Untitled, from the series The Bitterroot River

Media - 2008.2.38 - SAAM-2008.2.38_1 - 67862
Copied Barbara Bosworth, Untitled, from the series The Bitterroot River, 1995-1997, gelatin silver print, 7 5⁄8 x 9 5⁄8 in. (19.4 x 24.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Haluk and Elisa Soykan, 2008.2.38, © 1995-1997, Barbara Bosworth

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled, from the series The Bitterroot River
Artist
Date
1995-1997
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
7 5⁄8 x 9 5⁄8 in. (19.4 x 24.4 cm)
Markings
lower right in pencil: Barbara Bosworth upper left in pencil: 96-547
Copyright
© 1995-1997, Barbara Bosworth
Credit Line
Gift of Haluk and Elisa Soykan
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Keywords
  • Landscape
  • Landscape — forest
Object Number
2008.2.38
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2008.2.38

Artwork Description

The photographs in this series reflect on the intense connection our memory can form between people and place. Drawn from more than one hundred images made along Montana's Bitterroot River in the years following the death of a loved one, Bosworth later assembled them to create this narrative sequence. The solemn tone of the images speaks of resignation and vulnerability as currents and eddies slip along the river surface from one frame to the next only to disappear. But there is also affirmation and hope to be found in these graceful gestures—the arc of a young tree reaching across the river or a fish offered in outstretched hands—and reassurance in the continually renewing surface of the river: "I wanted to hold on to all the life that remained around me, and by securing my world in a photograph I convinced myself it could not totally be taken away."

Earth and Sky: Photographs by Barbara Bosworth exhibition label