Alex MacLean, pilot and photographer, has flown his Cessna 182 over much of the United States documenting the landscape. Trained as an architect, he has portrayed the history and evolution of the land from vast agricultural patterns to city grids, recording changes brought about by human intervention and natural processes. His powerful and descriptive images provide clues to understanding the relationship between the natural and constructed environments. MacLean’s photographs have been exhibited widely in the United Sates, Canada, Europe, and Asia and are found in private, public, and university collections. He has won numerous awards, including the American Academy of Rome’s Prix de Rome in Landscape Architecture for 2003-2004 and grants from foundations such as the National Endowment for the Arts and Graham Foundation. His books include The Playbook (2006), Designs on the Land: Exploring America from the Air, Taking Measures Across the American Landscape, Look at the Land: Aerial Reflections of America, and Above and Beyond: Visualizing Change in Small Towns and Rural Areas. MacLean maintains a studio in Cambridge and lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Artist’s Statement
"This is an apple orchard seen after a very late spring snowstorm. The view from directly above and the tree branches being backlit by the snow creates a silhouette of the apple trees that resembles tree stamps used in architectural drawings. "