"Far too often, energy companies have been responsible for crippling the delicate balance of our natural world... drilling and mining in extremely sensitive ecosystems has been done with little care for the environment and the people inhabiting these areas. It's been argued that fracking will help bring financial stimulus into struggling areas of the country; however, recent history has demonstrated the short shortsightedness of this approach. The initial capital gain is a stark contrast to a painful crash that renders an area worse off than it was before. Economics and damage to the soil aside, fracking also affects well water and consequently animal and, ultimately, human life. With this project I hope to join the ranks of concerned citizens who are taking a stand to help protect our natural resources and the people of New York State.

"Over the next eight months I will create a body of work that will stand as a historical document of the landscape. All photographers create their work with the camera, but for this important work I will actually be making my own gelatin based photographic plates and final prints. For the past year I have been studying and perfecting my skills in dry plate making. Using natural gelatins, silver nitrate and bromides I will make my own emulsions, and coat glass plates negatives using dry plate technology popularized by the Eastman Dry Plate Company [know afterwards as Eastman Kodak Company] in the 1880s."