Ancient Medicine 14

Following news of his father’s death in July 2016, Merriam spent a year searching for places to observe and photograph unique geology, the cycles of sedimentation and erosion, glaciation and volcanism. Descending into an ‘ancient world’ allowed him to find the peace necessary to rebuild a life in the present. In the Ancient Medicine photographs, the horizon is purposefully disregarded to give a feeling of immersion in the geology, asking the viewer to consider the slow tick of eons that have led to these compositions. Likening the process to painting with time, objects and landscapes of monumental size take on an ambiguous scale.