Mattress, Northampton, MA 2007 by Summer '07 contender Ben Alper.

Today's contender, photographer Ben Alper, is interested in the American landscape. He speaks of "evaluating man's imprint on the modern urban fabric" through photographing exclusively urban areas. I am immediately reminded of former hot shot Ian Baguskas's series, "Search for The American Landscape", and his Blurb-published book of the same title that I can't keep my hands off while hanging out at the gallery.

Unlike Baguskas's landscape, which centers around the rural West Coast, Alper's landscape consists of urban centers on the East Coast. On The Exposure Project, a blog for the photography collective he participates in, he exhibits a series of Polaroids taken in Manhattan and Brooklyn that tightly frame the urban landscape which he admires. On his site, he also has a smart series entitled, "Urban Nature", in which concrete and vegetation co-exist to a certain degree of aesthetic pleasure. His landscapes often depict a quality of abandonment, as with the photo posted above. At first it's just a photo of a poorly-kept backyard, until you notice the beat-up and deserted mattress hidden among the reeds.

Why the interest in the American landscape?

The contemporary American landscape is a complex and sprawling organism rife with both immense beauty and stark loneliness. Sometimes these emotional lines are clearly defined, but more often, these places attain a synthesis somewhere in the middle. I am drawn to neighborhoods that are inherently ambiguous in social distinction. Often forgotten and neglected, the weathered architecture and discarded personal relics fundamental of these neighborhoods, represent traces of humanity that have been displaced. What remains is a fragmented history of culture and community.

Alper goes on to explain the method to his madness:

I search for the subtle imperfections and uncharacteristic nuances that make these areas unique. By highlighting them, I hope to emphasize the aesthetic and social merit prevalent in these scenes. The potency of the social landscape lies in what it truly symbolizes; the effects that our decisions have on the vitality of the communities we live in.

Ben Alper was raised in Western Massachusetts and is currently based in Boston. He is a founding member of the aforementioned collective The Exposure Project, whose goal is to give exposure to emerging photographers working on long-term projects. His work has been exhibited on websites such as F-Stop Magazine and the Photographic Resource Center's Northeast Exposure Online. This fall, Ben will be focusing on photography at the Massachusetts College of Art.

Best of luck, Ben!

It's not too late for the rest of you aspiring hot shots to enter the running!