Road Cut (Homage to Roger Fenton) Diamond Bar, California 1984

This is Joe Deal's "Road Cut (Homage to Roger Fenton) Diamond Bar, California," a black and white photograph of a Southern Californian landscape. It references Roger Fenton, a British photographer known for his images of the Crimean War. However, where Fenton captured the brutal realities of war, Deal turns his lens towards the transformation of the American landscape, particularly the suburban sprawl of Southern California. We can see the cut of the road, and the scattered rocks, but also the encroachment of development on the natural world. Deal’s work invites us to consider the environmental costs of progress and expansion. Deal once said that he was interested in “the ordinary, the commonplace, the overlooked.” This photograph is a poignant reflection on the human impact on the environment. It’s a quiet, yet powerful statement about our relationship with the land.