Dana Montlack | Coastal Fragility Series
Coastal Fragility grows out of a deep fascination with the places where Georgia’s coastline rises and recedes each day. In the intertidal zone, oysters build reefs that become habitat, spartina grasses anchor the marsh, and species quietly adapt to tides that are never still. My work draws from marine-biology research and field study, translating those living systems into layered photographic art. It’s an attempt to honor both the beauty and the vulnerability of these ecosystems, and to invite a closer look at how coastal life holds on as the shoreline shifts beneath it.
My sincere thanks to NOAA and UGA Sea Grant, and to the collaborators whose support and expertise informed this work: Dr. Mona Behl (University of Georgia), Dr. Joel Kostka (Georgia Tech), and the Imaging Core Facility at Georgia State University.
See more from this series.
Intertidal #1
Archival pigment print, engraved and submerged metal frame.
14” x 11”
2024
Intertidal #1 is an archival pigment print set into a steel frame that spent weeks submerged in saltwater, allowing natural erosion and rust to shape its final form. The image itself is a composite: a topographic map of Georgia’s coastline interlaced with a cyanotype made from spartina roots and jellyfish collected in the marsh. The result is a merging of art, data and marine biology, both place and organism, reminding us that the environment is a living community.