Written by Clint Baclawski

This summer, I had the opportunity to travel with my wife and son to the Netherlands, where I exhibited my piece Departure at Museum Belvédère as part of the Noorderlicht International Photography Biennial, Machine Entanglements. The show explores how technology and climate shape our experience of nature, and it was an incredible honor to have my work included alongside artists from around the world.

Nestled in the rural, forested landscape of Oranjewoud in the northern Netherlands, Museum Belvédère is a beautifully designed space—its light-filled contemporary wing surrounded by wildflowers and greenery. It was the perfect setting to debut Departure, my first motorized scroll-based installation and the first piece from this new body of work to be shown internationally.

Shot on large-format film in the Grand Tetons, Departure scrolls continuously through five distinct stages: starting with a full-color image of a pristine mountain landscape, the piece slowly transitions to a black-and-white negative, and then to a red-saturated, sunburned version of the same scene. What begins as a calm, idyllic view gradually transforms into a ghostly afterimage and, ultimately, a scorched vision that evokes the unsettling effects of climate change.

While my initial goal was to exhibit in a museum setting, I had not anticipated that the opportunity would come through participation in an international biennial. The added context of Machine Entanglements, with its global scope, curatorial vision, and diverse cohort of artists, deepened the significance of the experience. It prompted me to reflect more critically on how my work engages with broader conversations around the environment, technological systems, and visual representation.