Distant Early Warning Line

This ongoing project examines the effect of climate change and its complications visible in the landscape and infrastructure of Greenland.

Distant Early Warning Line/ Victoria Crayhon

The title of this photo project refers to a Cold War missile detection system of radar stations over Greenland and Arctic regions of North America, put in place to protect North American cities from nuclear attack.

“The DEW Line: Cold War Defense at the Top of the World"

The Distant Early Warning Line demonstrated the importance of international partnerships, sharing technology and the collective effort to know the Earth.

-National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

My work ranges from ephemeral public installations/interventions to research-based studies of landscape, architecture and/or public space. I make large scale color photographs that reflect human intervention, whether historical, political/ ideological, or physical. My interests lie within the discernable differences regarding public vs private land ownership, goal-driven uses of land and public space, and the visible effects of these factors. I am drawn to making photographs that contain elements of the past and indications of the future, both of which can be at odds with what I and the viewer experience as the present within each image.

This series concerns the extreme effects of human instigated climate change in different parts of the world and questions what communities are experiencing in the present as well as preparing for the next 50 years. The first location chosen for this project is Greenland, where there is a multitude of very straightforward examples of the complications in addressing climate change. There is the overpowering presence of ice melt, a history of colonialism and the indigenous experience of climate change versus the desire to create a tourist destination that quite likely will advance the progression of the ice sheet melting yet will provide much needed economic opportunities. 

The installation includes 20 color photographs and a 68-page artist book, titled Green Land Blue Water. I have included 6 page spreads from this book as well as individual photographs.