Food Planet Future: The Art of Turning Food and Climate Perils Into Possibilities, my book and traveling exhibition, draws upon art, research, and innovative practices to reimagine the tangled crises of food security, climate change, and biodiversity loss. My work has been featured in national and international magazines, museums and juried shows.
As an educator and artist, I’ve always been interested in the blend of art and science, fact and metaphor. I’m also intrigued by the literary elements and devices of a photographic image: character, story, contrast, point of view, tone, theme, voice. Exploring these elements via photomontage offers endless possibilities. Wrestling with themes about agriculture, climate, and a healthy planet wraps many of my favorite subjects and practices into one.
Note: These images blend scanning electron micrographs (monochrome) with macro imagery (color). Most images mix a familiar food or item with a more dominant micrograph element which is a detail of the familiar item. For example, in the blueberry “moon” image, the foreground is the surface texture of a blueberry seed. Book and exhibition images include text explaining the importance of perennial agriculture, healthy soil, regenerative practices, carbon capture, crop wild relatives, restoring kelp forests, and more.
For more information, please visit www.foodplanetfuture.com
Robert Dash is an award-winning photographer, author, and science educator who uses a scanning electron microscope to highlight foods, pollen, seeds, and other objects with significant climate and biodiversity stories. His work has been published in National Geographic, TIME, Lenswork, Geographical, and Resurgence/Ecologist. His recent book Food Planet Future: The Art of Turning Food and Climate Perils Into Possibilities (Papadakis, UK) won a Nautilus Book Award for Photography and Arts, and a Gourmand Book Award, Best in the World, Food Security.
