Steve Giovinco

Netherlands-American Foundation Grant Supported Fine Art Night Landscape Photographic Project

This project, funded by a grant in 2022, was made in two areas in The Netherlands.

First, I photographed in and near the Nieuw Land National Park in Flevoland. I became obsessed with the area because both the park and the province of Flevoland were created completely from reclaimed land in the 1960s and 1970s.

Nieuw Land National Park was initially allowed to revert to its natural setting and was populated with animal species that would have roamed the region thousands of years ago. There was an attempt to “re-wild” the park but this was reversed after local concerns. Like much of The Netherlands, Flevoland sits at or below sea level, and canals, locks, and other infrastructure carefully manages water levels.

The second region I photographed was the giant wind farm in Friesland. Set in the middle of a 30-mile-long dyke are about 90 turbines. Seen from the shore, the structures were balletic and magical in afternoon light and twilight; at night, they seem dystopian.