Andrew Owen: In Light Years

In Light Years presents 16 landscape photographs by Andrew Owen that follow storylines of ecological transformation during California's recent cycles of megafires and floods. From 2021-2025, Owen traveled extensively across the state documenting communities and environments on the frontlines of extreme weather. Working primarily with a 4x5 view camera, his approach shifted with time towards the outskirts and along conceptual boundary lines. Here he could observe the intermixing of ecological change, community disruption, traces of the sublime, and everyday vernacular textures abstracted into the mythic realm. Unbound by linear narratives, Owen's photographs wander out into the stars and follow the moon just as they stand before a pile of charred books or a field of pink grass covered in fire retardant powder. The urge to see the climate crisis in vivid detail through wider ecological and mythic frameworks is at the heart of this body of work.

The exhibition features works ranging from intimate 12x15" prints to a monumental 58.5x78" photograph, displayed in custom walnut frames that emphasize the materiality of the work while allowing the photographs to be presented without glazing.

Andrew Owen is a photographer based in San Francisco. Since 2021 he has traced the path of fires and floods reshaping California's landscape, photographing both during major ecological events and in their aftermath. Owen began his career as Managing Director of the LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. In 2009, he received a National Geographic Young Explorer grant for The American Festivals Project, documenting hidden festivals across America. After relocating to San Francisco in 2014, he joined Instagram as Creative Editor, managing @instagram for its global community of followers.

On view October 18th - December 13th