Tanya Deman is a Croatian visual artist whose recent photo compositions have taken the relationship between the built environment and natural landscape to its extremes. The dreamy images depict familiar urban forms like skyscrapers and highways, dropped into natural landscapes such as mountain terrains. The more close-up shots of a theatre and stadium, seem to make a spectacle of nature’s wrath and Tanya’s anger towards the mistreatment of the natural land. The image which stood out to me the most was the one inside of the theatre. This is because it clearly remarks a series of messages about the destruction of our land and proposes the idea that one day the natural land will be part of history and we will have to go to the theatre to view it. What most interested me about Tanya’s work is how she points a surreal spotlight on the relationship between nature and humans. Her work acts as a voice to humans about the problems we are having to nature and the environmental problems we are enhancing/creating. This is really intriguing to me as I have a strong interest in preserving our environment and keeping it untouched by humans and too want to share this political message through my photographs.

I think the image conveys a very powerful story about the relationship between urban landscapes and the nature. My interpretation of this manipulated image is that at the rate humans are developing our land with man made features, one day we will have no natural land to see. Therefore going to the theater is the only way that people can see the natural land due to the destruction of it.  Essentially her message is that the one day the natural land will be part of history and this is clearly dealing with the politics of environmental destruction. There are many other ways this can be interpreted for example, the message that nature needs to be appreciated mimicking the way in which people appreciate theater performances. However most interpretations will follow the intended message of the photographer about having respect for our natural land and bring a realization of the harsh man made urban development. There is a large tonal range within the image from the dark shadows in the foreground to the highlights in the background. The sections where people are seated, there is a use of dark shadows which I think  were purposely created to show a sense of danger that humanity is to nature. The forest area is bright with increased highlights to show the significance and importance of it. The framing and composition of this photograph is really appealing to the viewer. I like how the theater creates a frame for the main subject which is also positioned central to show the audience that it is the focus point. Also, the use of leading lines from the balcony and rows of chairs at the front help draw the viewer to the main subject. Overall all it is clear, through this image and many of her other pieces, that Tanya Deman is questioning the political issue of man vs nature and the impact that we are having on it. This is achieved through the use of a juxtaposition between the natural land assisted by urban landscapes dropped into them. These compositions depict a changing environment and creates an oddly disturbing message to us; who is destroying the natural land.