"Our Land" is a visual conversation about the tension between experiencing and protecting the natural world. It illustrates the dual — and often dueling — mandates that Congress gave the National Park Service during its founding in 1916: to preserve our national treasures and to provide for the enjoyment of the American people. That conflict is captured through images of nature paired with images of people interacting with the natural world — how we experience, enjoy, reshape, honor and diminish nature. And how it changes us.
Benjamin Rusnak is a South Florida editorial and commercial photographer.
For 14 years he documented poverty in the Caribbean and Latin America for Food For The Poor, Inc., an international relief and development agency. Prior to that, he was a newspaper photojournalist for nearly 10 years.
His award-winning work has been recognized and exhibited internationally. He won the prestigious Gordon Parks Award in 2008 and he received InterAction's Effective Assistance Humanitarian Photography Award in 2010, among many other honors. His work is represented by ZUMA PRESS.
