Noah Buchanan- BA (Hons) Photography
Reseda
Reseda is a photographic exhibition marking the culmination of a two-year exploration into the complex relationship between human intervention and the natural world, with particular focus on the control and manipulation of nature within urban environments. Through a series of carefully constructed images made across Manchester, Noah critically reflects on the ways in which landscapes are shaped, ordered, and subdued by human presence.
Set within the suburban confines of an urban park, the series follows a solitary figure moving through the landscape while smoking a cigarette. This recurring motif operates as a visual symbol of environmental degradation, pointing to the consequences of consumption and material desire. The subject’s performative gestures introduce a tension between autonomy and control, embodying a sense of freedom that is both asserted and artificial.
Across the work, nature appears meticulously maintained, trimmed, contained, and regulated, standing in quiet contrast to its once untamed state. Reseda invites viewers to consider the uneasy balance between human dominance and ecological fragility, questioning the impulse to reshape and discipline a world far older than ourselves.
