Worlds Apart
Within this body of work I was interested in exploring the implementation of nature in an urban landscape. My goal was to document and illustrate the ways the city works with and against mother nature, specifically in Prospect Park. I am exploring human interaction with this nature and the relationship we have with it, which includes my own relationship with it as well. One thing I have learned and noticed since moving to New York City is that the nature here is just as planned and calculated as the skyscrapers that border it. Should we even call it nature at this point if it is no longer natural? I am from a part of the country where the cities are built around the nature and not vice versa. Therefore I find New York City and its parks particularly interesting because of the way the city overlaps with natural elements placed there.
Alec Ilstrup 2024 — Brooklyn, New York