Prospect Park Pastoral 2015

Curator: Elina Brotherus, known for her staged photography that often reflects on the human figure within landscapes, created "Prospect Park Pastoral" in 2015. It seems deceptively simple at first glance, but it speaks to layers of cultural history embedded in public spaces. Editor: Huh. It feels so… nostalgic, doesn't it? Like a half-remembered picnic. All those greens, fading into evening. Sort of wistful, even? Curator: Wistful certainly. Given Brotherus' broader body of work, the seeming tranquility invites a critical gaze. Public parks aren't neutral; they're sites of social performance, subject to issues of access and belonging. Editor: That makes me think... See how small the figures are? Two people, stretched out on a blanket, almost swallowed up by all that green. Are they part of the landscape, or just…passing through? I'm also noticing the impasto-like quality in the sky, the painterly blurring that calls impressionism to mind. Curator: Yes, that engagement with impressionism can't be divorced from a gendered reading, for me at least. Think of Berthe Morisot or Mary Cassatt. This recalls how women painters, despite the modernist turn, used intimate scenes to both celebrate and subtly critique their social spaces. Here the photographer may want to use a more classic composition with the people at the center, while playing with a "backdrop" which will eventually dominate the viewer's gaze. The clouds seem to tell their story and overpower humans' story here. Editor: Right, right. But those soft clouds and that bike casually leaning against a tree--isn't it inviting? A kind of open endedness, like an incomplete thought. Is there another person involved that just took off riding? Or do those two know him? What I appreciate most is its intimacy with the natural environment. And the color palette! Subdued but vibrant at once... Curator: And think of "pastoral" itself. What ideology does it subtly enforce through the nature/city dichotomy? Brotherus perhaps wants to invite us into this critical approach as it could touch upon multiple political issues and social relations such as immigration or the human-nature one... Editor: This feels deeply relevant for today and is also inviting us into deeper awareness. Curator: Absolutely. An important intervention that reveals how photography might question dominant readings of place and belonging.