Embarking into the mountain territories of the seemingly wilded trails of Griffith Park Observatory and Los Angeles National Forests & State Beaches, Lenard Smith captures the government regulated but enduringly curious landscapes of his city.
By studying nature (as a place) and the Anthropocene (two concepts never seeming to harmonize and consistently discordant) along with the interiority we often seek to find when retreating to the outdoors - Smith allows his hand to experience the influence of tuning into his sensorial percepts. Personal perception extends far beyond the impression of a single photograph; these photographs illicit the moment of euphoria felt whilst on an exploratory expedition and encountering (what we assume to be) wild.
The public realm attempts more and more to peer into the private. A ubiquity of images plagues the 21st century photographer as media blooms into mega flora — something like a non-native invasive species, overtaking, overruling, and overwriting our mother(board)s. It has become nearly impossible to imagine a complete sense of leisure when knowing that we are “known” by caches that follow us within our techno-scapes. Hand pressed samples serve as ephemeral close-ups of the often glanced-upon with feigning consideration.
