BRIAN KAHN - Muddy Stump, Lost Creek Reservoir, Oregon

Brian Kahn

Brian has a B.A. in anthropology and photography from Hampshire College and an M.A. in climate science and policy from Columbia University. He seeks to combine these interests through his photographs, particularly their interplay in the American West. The most precious resource in the West is water. In a region that sees most of its precipitation fall as winter snow, reservoirs are commonly used to hold water year-round for drinking, irrigation, and recreation. This comes with tradeoffs, though. Creating a reservoir to sustain these activities erases part of the landscape in the process. However, shifts in precipitation timing and intensity as well as warming temperatures which cause increased evaporation mean that the remnants of some of those landscapes are resurfacing. The changes causing this reemergence are likely to only become more dramatic unless something is done to curb greenhouse gas emissions and insulate ecosystems and communities from climate change. While Brian's images of these ghost landscapes draw on ideas of loss, impermanence, and melancholy, they are also meant to stimulate a sense of renewal and a discussion about what a sustainable future could look like.