From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, Exxon commissioned American universities and independent scientists to investigate the impact of fossil fuels on Global Warming. As pioneers of atmospheric carbon dioxide research during those years, their findings were synthesized into a digestible report. This internal report was issued to fifteen upper management (white male) employees in 1982, clearly defining and stating the consequences of unsustainable extraction practices and the consumption of fossil fuels. The report warned that these practices could be catastrophic to the natural world if they continue to be used.

However, instead of heeding the advice from years of research and transitioning to sustainable energy sources, Exxon’s executives chose a different path. They embarked on an aggressive audio- visual public relations campaign and rebranding effort, diverting millions of dollars from the company to develop propaganda. This propaganda, which included sponsored articles in major magazines and misleading television advertisements, aimed to downplay fossil fuels’ contribution to global warming – prompting the start of the current climate crisis.

Through the lenses of the natural landscape and propaganda imagery, Angle of Draw examines the intersections of power, sustainability, and whiteness in the American energy industry. I draw from propaganda imagery to create starkly lit photographs and multiple exposure collages in the studio and the physical landscape. Throughout my process, I consider the impact the fossil fuel industry has on the natural environment, local economy, and future prospects of those leH behind by corporations. The resulting series considers how framing the imagery impacts the national imagina<on—upholding social, poli<cal, and economic control systems. The simplicity of the photographic frame and its ability to crop, imitate, and repeat itself becomes an omnipresent weapon to censor nonbelievers and advertise a capitalist and androcentric ideology.

This book combines multiple projects (Land, Sea & Air, Have/Has/Had, and Angle of Draw) under the title, Angle of Draw. Though two of the smaller chapters or accents are hyper-specific in their references, all projects focus on the above themes. Have/Had/Has (slides no. 77-79) rephrases 1980s oil and gas advertisement copy as prompts for change on top of pictures taken from a 1982 Time Magazine article on the American energy industry. Land, Sea & Air (slides no. 47-58) juxtaposes printed media from November 1982 with vernacular images taken from an instructional book titled The Prop Master’s User Manual on a background of collaged pages from Exxon’s 1982 report. Using multiple exposures and a large format in-camera masking processes, photogram-like masks in the Land, Sea & Air series reflect symbols taken from diagrams in the Exxon report.