Scott Massey: Unstable Ground

Scott Massey’s photographic series Unstable Ground records the visual effects of the earth hurtling through space. This accelerated movement causes gravitational pull, allowing us to witness both sunrise and sunset and view the stars turning slowly overhead at night. Using an astronomical tool called an equatorial mount that allows a fixed view of the stars, Massey employs a large-format camera in place of a telescope, producing stunning images. The resulting photographs portray the earth’s rotation over the course of lengthy dawn and dusk exposures. Produced in a location in British Columbia dubbed the “Centre of the Universe,” the works are displayed with their resulting horizons aligned with the gallery floor, countering all illusion of atmospheric stasis.