Barbara Boissevain

http://www.barbaraboissevain.com/

artist statement

My parents and I came to the Silicon Valley from the Midwest when I was a young child when the high tech industry was in its infancy. At that time the valley contained hundreds upon hundreds of orchards that I played in—but was unaware that they had been sprayed with DDT.

Currently, I live within close proximity to several Superfund sites in Palo Alto. I have witnessed the enormous growth of the Silicon Valley and the population pressures that come with these immense changes to our surroundings. Because the Silicon Valley has a substantial transient population, I am concerned that the history of the land is not know to many of its inhabitants and thus they are not able to make informed decisions that would enable them to protect themselves and their families. I believe it is a basic human right for people to have information regarding toxicity in their environment.

These images are from a larger body of work I have titled My Backyard in which I hope to highlight environmental issues that are relevant to residents of the Silicon Valley. Most of these are aerial shots taken while flying in a two person helicopter which allowed me to get between 200 and 500 feet of my subjects which allowed me to uncover evidence of toxicity that is normally hidden from us when we are on the ground.

what do you love about the MFA program at San Jose State University?
The M.F.A. program at SJSU has provided me with the "pressure cooker" I sought out and needed to push my work to the next level. While at SJSU I have had the privilege of working with an amazing photo faculty of artists who have nurtured my work and encouraged my explorations
that have allowed my work to grow exponentially in terms of both content and new media. The freedom this has afforded me has allowed me to work with glass and push my photography into the spatial realm. I am not sure that I would have developed my work in this direction had I not been challenged to push my work outside the traditional boundaries of photography at San Jose State.

anticipated graduation date: May 2012

Barbara Boissevain, Cement Factory

Barbara Boissevain, Ghost Hanger

Barbara Boissevain, Salt Flat