Landscapes Before Religion
A Photographic Research Thesis
Throughout history, landscapes have served as more than settings for human life. They have shaped belief systems, inspired mythology, and become places of spiritual significance. Mountains, rivers, forests, and deserts have repeatedly emerged as sacred spaces where cultures have sought to understand their place in the world. This project explores the idea that the natural environment does not simply provide a backdrop for religion and culture, but actively influences their formation.
Centered in the Lake Tahoe Basin, the work begins with the cultural landscape of the Washoe people, whose relationship with Da ow Aga (Lake Tahoe) has been sustained for generations through stewardship, ceremony, and oral tradition. By photographing places that continue to hold cultural and ecological significance, the project examines how landscape can shape identity and religion.
The series also considers the transformation of these same environments through Euro-American settlement, where the land became reinterpreted through new religious and cultural narratives. By placing these perspectives in conversation, the photographs investigate how different societies assign meaning to the same places while revealing the enduring influence of the landscape itself.
Ultimately, this serves as both a documentary and a visual investigation into the relationship between place, belief, and history. It asks whether landscapes are simply interpreted by culture, or whether they have always been among its earliest architects.
