The piece by Larson Shindelman that particularly blew me away was the one titled Have My Location, 2011 there is something so intriguing about the assembly of orange bushes in such a clearly rural setting, paired with a tweet that reads “These tweets have my location?” Not only is it hard to tell exactly where “my location” is from this image but the bushes are full enough that it appears as though one could get away with hiding and disappearing into them. This rustic feeling further pushes the idea of nature as an escape from our reality, which is crucial when the modern world revolves around technology and will only continue to do so.

As time goes on and we dive deeper and deeper into this technological age, it has become increasingly more apparent that while there are many benefits to having technology so readily available, there are equally as many disadvantages. This innocent tweet exemplifies the power technology withholds over our day to day lives, because more often than not we may not even realize the amount of information we are putting on for anyone in cyberspace to view. It is easy to picture this tweet being sent out by the viewer’s grandma or grandpa, who is more likely than not still learning the ins and outs of apps like Twitter. This idea paired with the image is laughable, lighthearted, and relatable as I think most people can say that they have had to assist a grandparent or even a parent in understanding new technologies. 

The image itself is one that, at first look, I was thinking I would be uninterested in because in order to understand the pieces the viewer has to read the captions. However after seeing how well paired the image and tweet are I was able to realize it is the perfect balance of simplicity—with an uncomplicated image seeming to be from everyday life—and complexity with a tweet that I actually found myself having to break down multiple times in order to understand the whole composition. Overall it is crazy to think that a photograph of orange bushes paired with a tweet from a human being we don’t even know can really make a person think so deeply, but that is the beauty and appeal of not only this image but the exhibition as a whole.

-by Alexa Sankary, Halsey Institute intern

image: Larson Shindelman, Geolocation: Have My Location?, 2011. Archival pigment print.