Proving Ground

Proving Ground explores the legacy of Cold War nuclear test sites through a process of burying unexposed large format film. The film is buried at night and retrieved at night, allowing only the chemicals, minerals, and soil-filtered sunlight to expose the film. The resulting images form an alternate photographic history of otherwise nondescript tracts of desert and scrub brush. The effects of the nuclear tests are unseen in the landscape, save for a few well-worn craters and rusted signs signaling radioactivity. Much like Chernobyl, these sites have become refuges for the natural world, effectively off limits to any form of development for countless future generations.