‘Horizon’ from Hidden Worlds (Vol. 4). Words by Maya Arkane.
Horizon is a photographic series exploring the beauty of soil and comparing this with regolith on the surface of Mars.
Soil is one of the most important components on Earth; it provides nutrients to grow the food we eat, purifies our water, and combats flooding. Without healthy, nutrient-dense soil, human life would be extremely difficult. Rachel Foster, a photographer and wild bird technician based in Vancouver, Canada, wants to showcase the beauty in soil and highlight the intersection between art and science. Rachel notes "I think art is a fantastic way to communicate pressing environmental issues, especially with climate change and our poor treatment of natural spaces. However, I feel compelled to create imagery without a sense of urgency. I feel that creating forceful imagery that scares people into inaction towards climate change is detrimental. I hope that people look at my art and feel a bit more inspired by the world around them. Art can give scientists a voice because science, with its jargon and rigidity, can be intimidating; art offers accessibility to the potential of data. Data can be as simple as recording what birds visit your garden feeder throughout the year. Data can be beautiful. I use lumen printing to document the myriad of hidden processes in the texture of the Earth."
In 2006 NASA and the University of Arizona launched the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), sending a camera to orbit Mars and capture detailed images of its surface. Rachel selected images from this project to go alongside her prints "that fit with the theme of soil, renewal, dormancy and transformation".
Horizon is a photographic series exploring soil texture, water passage, and plant structure. She compares these textures to regolith on Mars. Regolith is the simplest form of soil. It’s the parent material of soil i.e. rocks and the first stage of soil creation before weathering processes break it down into more complex layers. As Rachel says, "Regolith is a very basic soil horizon, whereas humus - another soil horizon - contains a high amount of organic matter and supports life."
Another aspect that makes the surface of Mars an interesting comparison to Earth's is that it used to be a thriving planet. Mars has lost its atmosphere and most of its complex ecosystem processes. "Mars- comparable to Earth in many ways," adds Rachel, "has relictual ancient river systems, lava channels, ice, wind, and clouds" - all indicators of how Mars used to be a thriving planet, potentially even with life on it.
Rachel showcases the poetry in the movement of soil. Humans tend to overlook soil and we take it for granted, yet we cannot live without it. Soil is about the backbone of life on Earth "Were treating our soil so badly with industrial agriculture, resource extraction, and the destruction of self-sustaining ecosystems such as old-growth rainforest etc." says Rachel. There is such beauty in soil and that beauty continues through other planets and our solar system.
Rachel uses cameraless photography to create her prints. She selects an area based on her work and submerges light-sensitive paper in rivers beach shorelines or buries it in soil. She also takes some samples to the darkroom, including tree roots and soil. When the water and soil come together, a chemical reaction burns an impression into the paper.
Rachel's project is ongoing and she is always trying to get as many thumbprints of the Earth as she can. For Rachel, this project is incredibly personal with her work as a wild bird technician informing her artistic process. "Through my work, I see a lot of inspirational moments and I'm always learning about wildlife and ecosystems. But I'm also becoming very aware of the damage caused by human activities. " Rachel builds on this, adding, “Birds that migrate great distances find their habitat razed to the ground from large resource extraction projects and are too exhausted to compete for new territories. Standing dead trees, which provide food and cover for woodpeckers, small hawks, and rodents, get knocked down for development. Owls and hawks get severely hurt or killed by rodenticides in urban agricultural environments."
“Losing our biodiversity weakens our defences when natural events such as wildfires, exacerbated by climate change, devastate human and animal communities,” says Rachel. “Politicians don’t invest in our biodiversity as they do with mines and pipelines which makes it very frustrating to watch as a technician who’s just trying to make do every day.”
Horizon is about showcasing the beauty in the more hidden parts of the natural world, exposing how extraordinary they are. The hope is for Horizon to inspire more of us to appreciate the slightly concealed parts of the world, the parts beneath our feet. Rachel wants us all to be compelled to protect Earth but only from inspiring us through the sheer wonder of the planet and the wider solar system.