Laura Plageman

Instagram: @lauraplageman

Website: http://www.photolp.com

Bio: Laura Plageman creates complex photographic works that challenge traditional landscape representation. Using techniques like digital compositing, physical manipulation of printed photographs, and iterative rephotography, she explores themes of time, perspective, and environmental change. Her work reflects on human impact and our multifaceted relationship to the landscape. Plageman earned a BA from Wesleyan University and an MFA from California College of the Arts. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the Houston Center for Photography, and the Bolinas Museum. It has been featured in publications like Harper's Magazine and WIRED, and is included in the permanent collection of LACMA. Laura lives and works in Oakland, CA.

Statement: Crumpling a piece of paper transforms a flat surface into a landscape of ridges and valleys. This simple act reveals hidden dimensions, turning two dimensions into three, simplicity into complexity. I apply this principle to my photographic work. Starting with my own landscape photographs, I modify the images through various physical interventions, from crumpling prints to layering materials. I then photograph these altered forms, creating new iterations that exist between image and object. This process of transformation reveals unexpected textures and perspectives within familiar scenes. Each manipulation uncovers new ways of seeing, offering fresh interpretations of both photographs and the landscapes they represent. These transformed images serve as meditations on impermanence, challenging our notions of photographic truth and exploring the dynamic relationship between humanity and nature—how we shape our environment and how it, in turn, shapes us.