Bio:
Porter uses photography to investigate elements of the human experience by deconstructing and reordering its various and compelling components.
Statement: Vernal pools are temporary wetlands that emerge in the forest in late winter and spring before disappearing with the coming of summer. The project began with a broader interest in New England wetlands, and a question about whether the effects of climate change might be seen in these fragile environments. As I spent more time in these landscapes, I became less interested in finding specific evidence and more interested in understanding what was there. Vernal pools often occupy ordinary or overlooked corners of the landscapes I was exploring, yet they support complex forms of life and play an essential ecological role. For a short time each year they become critical habitats to amphibians, insects, and other forms of life that depend on them to survive and reproduce. Their importance is often out of proportion to their appearance. These unassuming pools suggest a way of understanding significance that is rooted in relationship, dependence, and the increasingly fragile conditions that allow life to flourish. The photographs examine the distance between what appears important and what actually is.
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Porter Gifford
