Russel Albert DANIELS
Russel Albert Daniels(Diné and Ho-Chunk, born 1974), Fracking in the Uinta Basin, Utah, 2023, archival inkjet print.
Diné and Ho-Chunk, born 1974
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Russel Albert Daniels is an indigenous photographer and photojournalist based in the Intermountain West. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Daniels studied photography at the University of Montana's School of Journalism before becoming a freelance documentary photographer.
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Fracking in the Uinta Basin, Utah is a birds-eye view of oil and gas development along the White and Green Rivers in Eastern Utah, which are both major tributaries of the Colorado River. With his photographic practice, Daniels examines the monumental impact of oil mining on the area’s watersheds and how the state of Utah is entangled with the exploitation of these resources. What are the differences you notice between the historical and contemporary photographs featured in this exhibition? How is the viewpoint and story different between a European settler's lens and that of an indigenous artist?
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More of Daniels' photojournalist work is included in the 2023 Mother Jones article, "Utah's Suicide Pact with the Fossil Fuel Industry" by Stephanie Mencimer.