Linda Kuo is Nominated by Reviewers Julie Grahame (Curator and Online publisher of aCurator.com), David Rosenberg (Editor, Slate.com‘s Photo Blog Behold) and Kristina Lopez (Founder, Art Zealous).
Reclaimed
With the increasing loss of habitat, absence of natural predators, and ever expanding roadways, the New York State Department of Transportation is faced with the disposal of 25,000 deer carcasses a year from motor vehicle collisions. The highest fatalities occur in October and November-during breeding season when bucks are in high pursuit, and in July when offspring are born. For various reasons, previous methods of disposal––incineration and mass graves, have become increasingly prohibitive. A viable alternative to traditional methods of removal is composting, which involves burying dead deer carcasses with wood chips. The piles are rotated and refreshed with new compost, and over time the carcasses biodegrade and are generated into a stable soil compound. The fertile and newly amended soil, is then sprinkled with grass seed and used to landscape the highways. “Reclaimed” considers the practice of deer composting implemented by the DOT in Ulster County NY, which compost over 800 deer carcasses a year.
Linda Kuo is a documentary photographer, whose work focuses on global issues with a special interest in animals and the environment. Whether living, dead, domesticated, wild or agricultural, Linda is interested in the impact humankind has upon the animal kingdom.
Animals, considered property and assets, are commodified in infinite ways. As society further elevates its status through technology, we increasingly distance ourselves from our organic world, and sever our connection to other sentient beings. Automated and mechanized, we’ve become indifferent to nature’s intelligence, ignoring its innate ability to adapt to the continual stresses of humankind as we strive for further development.
Animals are adept; they are conscious, advanced, and possess faculties far beyond our comprehension. The journey of our evolution will determine whether we are capable of overseeing the animal kingdom with consideration and accountability, or if we will subsist, disconnected, in an artificial environment of our own design.
Linda has been nominated for 2015 PDN’s 30: Emerging Photographers to Watch, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, The London Sunday Times Magazine, Slate, L’Oeil de la Photographie, as well as being exhibited in various group shows in New York City and Philadelphia. Linda lives in New York with her family, and continues to work on her long-term projects.
INFORMATION
http://asmpny.org
http://www.kuophoto.com
