Elena Lyakir

  • Aves
  • City Parks Romance
  • Locus of Memory
  • Meditations
  • Visual Poetry
  • Land And Sea
  • Portraits
  • Skins, The Unprofessional Study
  • The Discourse Of Flora
  • The Olive Tree Chronicles
  • Philosophy Skincare Commission
  • Calypso Home Design Project
  • About/Contact
  • CV

Statement 

In recent years my Brooklyn neighborhood has dramatically transformed due to gentrification and real estate overdevelopment. The gradual disappearance of punctuated natural environments has been uncanny. I began taking photographs of still remnant vegetated sites as a form of record. Now and again I would return to several locations I had photographed to observe the transformations. As I witnessed the ominous green construction fences morphing landscapes and consuming places where, not long ago, thriving flora served as habitat for birds and other city “wildlife”, I was compelled to explore this subject viscerally.
In this ongoing project I compose in-camera double exposures of intimate pockets of nature photographed in and around inner cities to create immersive large-scale panoramas. The abstract visual quality of the double exposure technique echoes nature in constant flux – a result of the human influence on the environment and the fast approach of Anthropocene.
The project had expanded to include other cities in the U.S. and around the globe. City Parks Romance illuminates random sights of vegetation and city parks as an expansive and dreamy atmosphere of romance and nostalgia – sentiments we often feel for nature as a result of living in urban environments.

City Parks Romance

The Unexpected. Lincoln Park, Chicago

The Unexpected. Lincoln Park, Chicago

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Happy Days. Fort Tilden, Queens

Happy Days. Fort Tilden, Queens

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Endless Days. Villa Borghese Gardens, Rome

Endless Days. Villa Borghese Gardens, Rome

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Beginnings. Ruinas Romanas de Troia, Portugal

Beginnings. Ruinas Romanas de Troia, Portugal

2018, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

The Spell Of Seventh Night. Fort Tilden, Queens

The Spell Of Seventh Night. Fort Tilden, Queens

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

The Longest Day Of Summer. Central Park, NYC

The Longest Day Of Summer. Central Park, NYC

2016, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Secrets Of Light And Shadow. Sag Harbor, NY

Secrets Of Light And Shadow. Sag Harbor, NY

2017, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

The Great Distance. Sag Harbor, NY

The Great Distance. Sag Harbor, NY

2016, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Mute Soliloquies. Sag Harbor, NY

Mute Soliloquies. Sag Harbor, NY

2018, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Once Upon A Winter Time. Jamaica Bay Park, Queens

Once Upon A Winter Time. Jamaica Bay Park, Queens

2016, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Followed By Silence. Sag Harbor, NY

Followed By Silence. Sag Harbor, NY

2018, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

When All This Fades Away. Forest Park, Queens

When All This Fades Away. Forest Park, Queens

2017, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Nether Reflections. Central Park, NYC

Nether Reflections. Central Park, NYC

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Shadows Of Being. Madoo Gardens, Sagaponack, NY

Shadows Of Being. Madoo Gardens, Sagaponack, NY

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Plunges Into The Abstract. Madoo Gradens, Sagaponack, NY

Plunges Into The Abstract. Madoo Gradens, Sagaponack, NY

2016, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Sweet Liberty. Prospect Park, Brooklyn

Sweet Liberty. Prospect Park, Brooklyn

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

I Followed The Moon To The Amazon. Secret Location, Germany

I Followed The Moon To The Amazon. Secret Location, Germany

2018, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Birth And Quietus. Arnold Arboretum, Boston

Birth And Quietus. Arnold Arboretum, Boston

2017, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Of Ice And Roses

Of Ice And Roses

2019, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Still Like The Hummingbird. Arnold Arboretum, Boston

Still Like The Hummingbird. Arnold Arboretum, Boston

2017, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

First Snow. American Playground, Greenpoint

First Snow. American Playground, Greenpoint

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Feels Like Home. Bridgehampton, NY

Feels Like Home. Bridgehampton, NY

2016, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Fading Memories. Arnold Arboretum, Boston

Fading Memories. Arnold Arboretum, Boston

2017, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

The Future Is A Forest. Great Kills Park, Staten Island

The Future Is A Forest. Great Kills Park, Staten Island

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Autumn Day Dreams. Staten Island Greenbelt, NY

Autumn Day Dreams. Staten Island Greenbelt, NY

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Warm Winter Bright Silence. Arnold Arboretum, Boston

Warm Winter Bright Silence. Arnold Arboretum, Boston

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Legends Of The Fallen Muse. Arnold Arboretum, Boston

Legends Of The Fallen Muse. Arnold Arboretum, Boston

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Waves Of Wonder. Jardim do Torel, Lisbon

Waves Of Wonder. Jardim do Torel, Lisbon

2018, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Earth Has The Answers. Hudson, NY

Earth Has The Answers. Hudson, NY

2017, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Memory Of Summer. East River Park, NYC

Memory Of Summer. East River Park, NYC

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8

Wild Life. East River Park, Brooklyn

Wild Life. East River Park, Brooklyn

2015, Archival Ink Jet Print, Edition of 8