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Climate Hope: Photographic Works from the Nasher Collection

TRENT A. CARMICHAEL ACADEMIC FOCUS GALLERY

February 22 – May 18, 2025
Barbara Bosworth, Carlisle from The PRC Portfolio, 2004 (printed 2008). Pigmented inkjet print on Harman Warmtone Matte fiber based paper, edition 21/35, 17 × 22 inches (43.2 × 55.9 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Jody Vipperman Saarmaa and Erik Saarmaa, 2016.25.1.5. © Barbara Bosworth.
Literacy Through Photography photograph made by students at Club Boulevard Elementary School, 2025; Durham, North Carolina; project was facilitated by Bass Connections team, Climate Hope: Action Rooted in Visual Arts + Nature Education.

This exhibition presents photographs from the Nasher Museum’s permanent collection that highlight the effect of human activity on the global climate and the role that hope and youth play in our collective future. Continuing the conversation sparked by the exhibition, Second Nature: Photography in the Age of the Anthropocene, the installation was curated by the Bass Connections project team, Climate Hope: Action Rooted in Visual Arts + Nature Education. This interdisciplinary research initiative brings together Duke and K-12 students and teachers with the goal of empowering students to understand climate challenges, envision positive solutions, and become a new generation of environmental stewards.

Climate Hope: Photographic Works from the Nasher Collection pairs photographs with reflections written by Duke students, making visible the team’s work from Fall 2024. The exhibition mines photography’s expressive potential as introduced by Literacy Through Photography, a teaching methodology developed by the Center for Documentary Studies, that inspires youth to explore their world through the lens of photography. Climate Hope encourages visitors to examine their own relationship with the environment to foster a sense of responsibility towards nature and inspire positive climate action.

  • Ed Ruscha, Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland from the series Parking Lots, 1967 (printed 1999). Gelatin silver print, edition 26/35, 14 15/16 x 14 15/16 inches (37.9 x 37.9 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Blake Byrne, A.B.’57; 2017.4.27.4. © Ed Ruscha.

  • Hong Lei, Speak, Memory of Five Needle Pine, 2005. Chromogenic print, edition 8/10, 37 1/8 x 47 1/8 inches (94.3 x 119.7 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase, 2007.2.1.4. © Hong Lei. Courtesy of the artist and Chambers Fine Art, New York.

  • Heather Evans Smith, Don't Worry, Spring is Coming, 2020. Archival pigment print, 18 5/8 × 22 5/8 inches (47.31 × 57.47 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Kristine Stiles, 2024.2.6. © Heather Evans Smith.

  • Emmet Gowin, Subsidence Craters on Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site from The PRC Portfolio, 1997 (printed 2008). Fiber based gelatin silver print on Portriga Rapid Agfa vintage paper, edition 21/35, 16 1/4 × 20 inches (41.3 × 50.8 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Jody Vipperman Saarmaa and Erik Saarmaa, 2016.25.1.8. © Emmet Gowin

  • Ansel Adams, Orchard, Early Spring, Portola Valley, California, c. 1953 (printed 1980). Gelatin silver print, mounted; edition Museum Set Edition #2666, 15 1/4 x 19 1/4 inches (38.7 x 48.9 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Bequest of the Aubrey Courtney Shives, Jr. (T’66) Trust; 2011.8.8. © 2013 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.

  • Bruce Davidson, California - Pacific Coast Highway, 1966. Gelatin silver print, 11 × 14 inches (27.9 × 35.6 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Anonymous gift, 2018.24.130. © Bruce Davidson.

  • James Lerager, Untitled (Enola Gay), c. 1997. Photograph, 14 13/16 × 10 inches (37.59 × 25.4 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Kristine Stiles, 2023.16.3. © James Lerager.

  • Laura McPhee, Irrigator's Tarp Directing Water, Fourth of July Creek Ranch, Custer County, Idaho from The PRC Portfolio, 2004 (printed 2008). Pigmented inkjet print on Harman Warmtone matte FB paper, edition 21/35, 17 × 22 1/8 inches (43.2 × 56.2 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Jody Vipperman Saarmaa and Erik Saarmaa, 2016.25.1.11. © Laura McPhee.

Organization & Support

The Bass Connections team, Climate Hope: Action Rooted in Visual Arts + Nature Education includes team leads, Rakan DiarBakerli, K-12 and Family Programs Educator, Katie Hyde, Lecturing Fellow in the Program in Education at the Center for Documentary Studies, Ellen C. Raimond, Associate Curator of Academic Initiatives, and Gabrielle Tenedero, Museum Educator for Student Engagement. Duke graduate project leads include Bren Vienrich-Felling and Katelyn Lester, both in the Master of Fine Arts in Experimental and Documentary Arts program at the Center for Documentary Studies. Duke undergraduate and graduate team members include Akuorkor Allotey, Summer Bell, Phoenix Chapital, Yueqi Dou, Sophia Irion, Artivista Karlin, Sadie Radice, Xintong Sun and Biying Wang.

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