The New York based photographer, Dana Hoey, in her most recent body of work, titled Experiments in Primitive Living, envisions the world in five different bleak weather conditions - ash, freeze, thaw, flood and drought. Her series of forty color photographs, grouped together by which dystopic scenario they fall into, functions like a collection of ambiguous short stories, where each photograph reveals a micro detail of a fragmented plot that the viewer struggles to make any sense of. In each of these imaginary worlds, Hoey’s camera focuses on the insects and people that inhabit such strange environs, in addition to things like melting icicles and budding flowers. Rarely do we get a panoramic view or establishing shot, instead details and medium close-ups create a more intimate perspective on survival.

However, Dana Hoey is a very stylized photographer, and these moments of gloom become moments of sheer beauty as well. This is especially true in the “ash” and “freeze” categories. Ash – Mentor Group (2008) depicts a group of eight people huddling under a green tarpaulin as ash and debris rains down on them from above. One man in the group tries to protect the face of a woman who is lying down under the tarp. Though the scene looks apocalyptic, it also has a poetic tone, for the falling ash looks so delicately arrested in time and space. Freeze – Fallen (2007) carries a comparable poetic balance, where we see a naked young woman lying on her side with her back toward the viewer. She may be frozen in place or perhaps even dead. However, the muted palette, sensuous curve of her body, and delicate stillness of the scene mitigates the severity of her tragic condition.

One interesting aspect of this body of work is the way in which Hoey approaches the photographic medium. Experiments in Primitive Living appropriates a range of styles and techniques more associated with photography’s commercial application, in order to construct a loose narrative about fictitious worlds where a metaphysical battle against elemental forces and human beings rages on. It is interesting to see how when diverse images are grouped together, how the mind tries to make sense of it all.