Selected works
Legacies of Photographic Silver
Desert Treasure
Among The Weeds And The Waste
a:yetíya' dágeha’ [We Should Help Her]
Red. Lined.
Scarify
The City That Kodak Built
[de]compose
LAND / SEAS / SUN
©2024 Alice Cazenave
2024
Series of eight 5” x 7” gelatin silver prints
- Photographic negatives and prints developed in plants.
A series examining the ecologies that absorb and withstand the extensive chemical pollution from Kodak industrial sites in Rochester, New York. While celebrated for his philanthropy, Kodak founder George Eastman’s legacy extends beyond the arts and music institutions he supported financially.
Spanning decades, Kodak’s atmospheric and heavy metal pollution was extreme. Today, its main toxic landfill takes the form of a gated lawn-covered hill, flanked by highways and two residential homes. These photographic prints were developed using sweet pea foraged from outside the gates of the landfill. Also used as plant photo-chemistry was lawn cuttings from George Eastman’s mansion.
The use of these plants from two distinct but connected worlds opens up conversations about Kodak’s chemical legacy, how its wealth was distributed in the city, and how plants reflect and indicate these realities. The prints depict Eastman’s philanthropic projects including the Memorial Art Gallery, Eastman School of Music, as well as abandoned Kodak industrial sites and parking lots.
Kodak land fill, Greece, Western New York
George Eastman Mansion & Gardens, Rochester, New York . Donated Kodak E200