Lost Worlds: Ruins of the Americas

CURRENT OAS | AMA GALLERY EXHIBITION - 1889 F Street, NW

Photography by Arthur Drooker

LOST WORLDS BOOK WEBSITE
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December 5, 2011 – February 24, 2012

AMA | OAS Terrace Level Photo Gallery
1889 F St., NW (Corner of 18th Street)
Washington, DC 20006

Hours MON-FRI 9 AM-5 PM

THE EXHIBITION
This exhibition of photographs presents a powerful visual narrative of the cultures, conflicts and conquests that forged the New World. Covering significant ruins in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America, Lost Worlds offers a unique pictorial survey of the geographical, architectural and historical diversity that defines the Americas.

Seeking to broaden the vision that inspired him to create American Ruins (traveling exhibition and publication by Merrell 2007), the first photographic survey of historic ruins within the United States, photographer and writer Arthur Drooker continues his journey making images of ruins that shed light on the collective identity of the Americas.

After conducting extensive research, Drooker identified, traveled to, and photographed thirty-three ruins in fifteen countries over a three-year period. They range from iconic UNESCO World Heritage Sites to places that are less well known but no less worthy. They include a king’s palace in Haiti, Inca fortresses in Peru, Maya pyramids in Mexico, and a colonial city in Panama sacked by legendary pirates.

Drooker photographed each site with a specially adapted digital infrared camera. Infrared photography records an invisible band of light that envelops ruins in an otherworldly glow.