Maddie McManimon (she/her)
Student
On the Edge of Nature
Photography
Artist Statement
Since this picture was taken on a disposable camera, it took me a while to get it back, so for a while, I almost forgot about it. However, when I finally got my film developed, this picture really stood out to me. On one side of the picture, there is just beautiful nature, on the other, people admiring it. It seemed for the first time in my life while visiting a beautiful natural spot, there were no tourists taking family pictures in front of the falls or people rudely throwing food or trash into the water. I didn’t feel like a tourist, I felt like part of the ecosystem. Some many view the cliff as the separation or boundary between humans and nature. However, I believe that this way of thinking is the biggest shortcoming in environmental work. Our first mistake in addressing any environmental issue is that we are above the nature around us, when in reality, we are a part of it. I believe that changing this way of thinking is the first step that we as humans need to take to unleash empathy and passion to heal the environment. If we can understand that we are a part of nature, we will learn to care about it more through a personal bond, as nature is a part of us as well.