Wednesday Edition: Alex MacLean

Houndstooth Pattern in Parking Lot, at Disney World, FL
11"x14" ($50) | 16"x20" ($200) | 24"x30" ($1000)
by
Alex MacLean

This image is also available as a 50" x 60" print, from an edition of 5, priced at $5000. Please drop a note to collector@20x200.com if you're interesting in learning more about this edition.
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Wednesday greetings, my collector friends! As I forecast yesterday, both today's sky and my own disposition are quite a bit sunnier. Could be that I'm looking forward to heading over to the gallery for Christian Chaize's opening, which starts in a few short hours. Could be all the "Cheer up — It's gonna be ok!" emails, Twitter DMs, and Facebook comments I got after confessing my little black cloud in a dress-ness in yesterday's newsletter. (Turns out people actually read these things! And love Billy Bragg like I do! And I wasn't the only one having a bad day!) It's probably all those things, really, and today's colorful, super-fun edition by photographer Alex MacLean is definitely part of the equation as well.

Houndstooth Pattern in Parking Lot, at Disney World, FL has had me singing along to The Go-Gos all morning. No, I don't want to go to Disneyland. (Sorry, mom. Not with you, or anyone else for that matter!) I do however really wanna go on vacation. Alex's aerial imagery makes me long for a plum window seat from which I might survey the American landscape while en route to some relaxing destination.

If you browse Alex's site you'll see that he's got plenty of frequent flyer miles of his own, as pilot rather than passenger. I'm assuming that there's a co-pilot manning the controls while he's actually shooting.... right?) Anyone who's spent any time in an airplane is familiar with how captivating the landscape is from above. If you're like me, you've tried to capture its essence with your point-and-shoot or phone cam, and failed miserably in the process. It's hard to take a good picture from a plane! That doesn't mean that a lot of people don't do it, and many do it well; I've seen lots of interesting aerial photography in my time, but I've never encountered anyone who goes about it as Alex does.

As it says in his bio: "Trained as an architect, he has portrayed the history and evolution of the land from vast agricultural patterns to city grids, recording changes brought about by human intervention and natural processes." These are documents, but they're dazzling ones. And the dazzle is important. Bright and shiny things capture interest, and once you have someone's interest you've got an opportunity to teach them something new.

Alex's newest book, Over: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point, attempts to do just that. The epic vistas are engrossing, but once engrossed you begin to learn more about the toll of human life on earth. As it's described on Alex's site, "the book allows readers to visualize climate change and our culture's excessive use of resources and energy... demonstrat[ing] the extent to which the human ecosystem, and our economic and social well being, are dependent upon our wise use of land and its resources."

With some food for thought, and Alex's first (hopefully first of many!) 20x200 edition announced, I'll take my leave for the day. I'm off to figure out something super stylish to wear for tonight's reception. You know how chic those Frenchies are! I'm back next week on a Tuesday that'll feel like a Monday, but BETTER because it'll include the introduction of some fresh art, introduced by a refreshed Jen. I plan on getting some R&R over the long weekend and hope you will too.

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