Second sight

Why is this field of houses in the middle of nowhere? This is just the kind of question that Alex MacLean wants us to ask. MacLean has flown a light plane over much of the US documenting changes to the environment caused by both people and nature. “My photographs are environmental puzzles: the viewer has to decipher what is going on,” he says.

This is an “exurban” residential development: one that that sits beyond the normal suburbs of a city, in this case South Jordan in Utah. MacLean – a pilot, architect and renowned aerial photographer – spotted this place when he was taking pictures for a project

looking at housing density patterns around the US. This field of around 200 houses is a classic example of exurban development, a phenomenon driven by the American dream of owning a detached house with a large backyard.

The dream is becoming an environmental nightmare, though. “Exurban developments typically lie further out than traditional suburbs and are more scattered and isolated. This makes them much more difficult to provide with services and infrastructure,” says MacLean. “The result is longer commutes and more traffic congestion, pollution and wasted energy.” As with

many of MacLean’s photographs, it is only when you see things from the perspective of an aeroplane that you get a true picture of what is going on. “It’s a settlement pattern that will work against us in the long run,” he says.

To see more of MacLean’s unusual landscape photographs visit the exhibition “Looking at Landscapes: Environmental puzzles from three photographers” at the New York Hall of Science, which runs until 28 May (see also www.landslides.com/lookingatlandscape). MacLean’s latest book, Visualizing Density, is published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Does this look like a dream to you?

Photography: Alex MacLean

48 | NewScientist | 14 April 2007 www.newscientist.com

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