Retired UO English professor Jim Earl has spent many years soaring through spacious skies, high above those poetic amber waves of grain (you know, nestled between purple mountains’ majesty).
A photo exhibit by Earl, showcasing the in-flight views of America’s beautiful Midwest landscapes, is now on display at the Portland International Airport along Concourse A through Nov. 14. The display is appropriately titled, “Window Seat.”
Traveling back and forth several times a year from Indianapolis, Ind., and Eugene while working for the university, Earl developed a profound interest in the aerial perspective of the Great Plains region. A self-professed “serious window-seater,” Earl was inspired by the natural designs sprawled out 30,000 feet below.
To him, it’s the greatest show on earth.
“What’s always intriguing is when you look at something you’ve seen before, but you see new things every time you look at it,” Earl said. “I knew I wanted to make a project out of this as soon as I retired.”
Earl’s initial idea was to create a small book for air travelers to peruse while they soared over the landscape, a book that would help them identify what they were flying over. However, after doing a bit of research he found that there were already a few such books on the market. He decided to get a bit more creative.
Utilizing Google Earth technology and the information he had gained from his research, Earl captured 11 pictures of the Great Plains’ scenery from “God’s point of view” and printed them on a large scale. For years, his photographs traveled around Eugene and were displayed in the Eugene Airport, the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts and in the Eugene Mayor’s Art Show three times.
“People are always surprised to learn they’re photographs and not paintings,” Earl said. “But that’s part of the fun; it makes for wonderful conversation.”
Paired alongside Earl’s photographs are three handmade quilts that represent the earthly shapes and colors of the Midwest. The display, along with a companion essay by Earl, is intended to show humans’ historic relationship with nature.
The next stop for Earl’s exhibit, he said, is hopefully the Indianapolis International Airport.
—By Nathaniel Brown, Public Affairs Communications intern