Triangle, Bermuda (from the series Altered Landscapes)

Artist John Pfahl (American, 1939 - 2020)

Date1975 printed 1977

MediumChromognic print

DimensionsImage: 7 3/4 × 9 7/8 in. (19.7 × 25.1 cm)
Support: 8 1/2 × 10 15/16 in. (21.6 × 27.8 cm)
Mat: 14 × 17 in. (35.6 × 43.2 cm)

ClassificationsPerformance

Credit LineGift of Bobbie Foshay, 2017

Object number2017.24.27

DescriptionView of ocean with large rock at center, beach in foreground. Stakes in the beach at foreground left and right hold down a string or rope that are suggest the bottom of a triangle before disappearing into the surf.
eMuseum Notes

Emuseum Notes

Pfahl’s ongoing interest in the human imprint on the landscape takes a more intellectual turn in his series “Altered Landscapes” from the mid-1970s. Each of these images features an intervention by the artist that is incorporated into the ordinary scenery. By photographing his alterations to the landscape in a straightforward manner, Pfahl plays with our perceptions and intentionally disorients his audience.

Emuseum Notes

See 1986.119.1 for another image from this series.

The photograph was made in Bermuda.

See John Pfahl, “Altered Landscapes” (Friends of Photography, 1981).

The “Bermuda Triangle” or “Devil’s Triangle” is a legendary region in the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda where ships and planes are believed by some to have disappeared under mysterious, paranormal circumstances.

Known as an educator as well as a photographer, Pfahl spent much of his adult life in upstate New York where he taught at the Rochester Institute of Technology, the Visual Studies Workshop, and the University of Buffalo. He has also taught at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. In 2009, Pfahl received the Honored Educator of the Year award from the Society for Photographic Education.

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Not on view

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