CHICAGO, IL.- The Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago is presenting Lucas Foglia: Human Nature from July 19 – September 30, 2018. The relationship between humans and nature is both symbiotic and fraught. In the present era of climate change, scientists and conservationists are scrambling to find solutions to myriad challenges such as resource depletion, ecosystem transformation, overpopulation, and species extinction. As our destruction of the natural world becomes more pervasive, our interactions with wilderness are in turn increasingly restrained, and the experiences we do have with nature often occur in human-made environments. In fact, we are spending more time than ever indoors, even as social science research indicates that a connection to nature is vital to our well-being.

Lucas Foglia is interested in these complexities, and particularly in disputing the notion that people and nature are at odds. He began his project Human Nature (2006–16) in order to probe our relationship to the wilderness, and to explore our fundamental need to commune with nature. With the skills of a seasoned photographer, and often with a touch of humor, he documents leisure activities, exploration, and some of the science behind climate change—often in remote locations. Spurred on by neuroscience research that shows that human beings benefit intellectually, emotionally, and physically when exposed to nature, Foglia photographs scientists busy proving that time in nature helps humans ease negative stresses and improves attention spans.

Throughout his work, Foglia celebrates and probes our synergetic relationship with the natural world. Ultimately his photographs invite us to ponder our inherently animal nature, and to understand our fundamental connection to the earth for health and happiness. As Foglia recommends, “Go outside. It’s good for you.”

Curated by MoCP’s deputy director and chief curator, Karen Irvine, Lucas Foglia: Human Nature is being presented in conjunction with View Finder: Landscape and Leisure in the Collection. Featuring images form the MoCP collection and curated by MoCP curator of academic programs and collections Kristin Taylor, View Finder: Landscape and Leisure in the Collection considers landscape photography from the late nineteenth century through the present day, examining not only the role of parks as sites of leisure and respite, but also the role of landscape photography in the early formation of state parks.