Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

19th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
In the Blink of an Eye

This diptych contrasts undeveloped wild habitat with a manicured suburban community/habitat. I took a cell phone photo from one side of a bridge and then crossed to the other side of the bridge and took the second photo. With the similarity of features in each photo (the water and its orientation, the receding line of trees on the far shore and the identical no trespassing signs) its easy to imagine that these photos are of the same place but that they were taken some time apart. To me the photos represent the rapid loss of undeveloped habitat or land across America and throughout the world. The two photos were taken within a minute or two of each other and provide an imagined and speeded up view of this habitat loss and suburban or community sprawl- it can all happen in the blink of an eye.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 11.2021
Date Uploaded: 11.2021
Photo Location: Rotunda, Florida, United States of America
Copyright: © JOHN ARMSTRONG