LISA MCCARTY - EXPOSURE INTERNATIONAL OPEN CALL

You & I Are Earth explores the resurgence of eco-conscious burial, grieving, and memorial rites.

Over the last two years I have researched & photographed contemporary approaches to natural burial for this project. Natural burial is a way of caring for the dead that minimizes environmental impact and aids in the preservation of habitats.* Many natural burial grounds undertake significant projects to rehabilitate and preserve endangered land from development. Equally important, natural burial also facilitates a return to grieving & memorial rituals that center communion with nature. Natural burial rites have been used for thousands of years and have continually been followed in many indigenous communities and in a variety of faith traditions around the world. And prior to the Civil War, natural burial was also the dominant practice throughout the United States. Despite this long history, few Americans are familiar with natural burial or what a contemporary “green” cemetery looks like.

The loss of my grandparents and the onset of the pandemic led me to research practices of death care, and particularly the healing benefits of natural burial on both psychological and ecological levels. At each burial ground I visited, I encountered traces of grief and growth; carefully tended flower beds, hand-made monuments, burial mounds receding into verdant thickets, and well-worn walking paths. Many of the gravesites are easily identifiable, however, others are purposefully unmarked or have become indiscernible from the overall ecosystem. As Carolina Memorial Sanctuary states, “each burial becomes part of the living landscape.” Natural burial grounds are dynamic ecosystems—places where individuals can observe and contribute to communal growth, grieving, and restoration.

With this project, I wish to build public awareness and reduce fears about natural burial by highlighting the ecological benefits as well as the beauty and tranquility of these restorative environments.

*From the Green Burial Council, greenburialcouncil.org

BIOGRAPHY

Lisa McCarty’s photographs, books, and videos explore environmentally conscious communities and imagemaking practices.

McCarty has participated in over 100 exhibitions and screenings at venues including Amherst College, Carnegie Museum of Art, Cassilhaus, Fruitlands Museum, Houston Center for Photography, McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, the Nasher Museum of Art, and the Visual Studies Workshop. McCarty’s photographs have also been featured in a variety of international festivals including Noorderlicht, Internationale Photoszene Köln, Picture Berlin, and Sören Kierkegaard in Images, while her moving images have been screened at the New York Film Festival, Cosmic Rays Film Festival, Mimesis Documentary Festival & Small File Media Festival. Her books include Transcendental Concord (Radius Books), The Arboretum Aphorisms of Nathaniel Dorsky (San Francisco Cinematheque), & A Time of Youth: San Francisco, 1966-1967 by William Gedney (Duke University Press).

McCarty received her MFA in Experimental & Documentary Arts from Duke University. She is currently based in Boston and teaches at Northeastern University.