Chance encounters and insights
inspired by walking through Boston’s public parks
and greenways—known as urban wilds.

 

http://www.wanderurbanwilds.com

 

A project by Paul Turano

The human experience of nature through urban wilds is multifaceted, as it can involve not just our appreciation of plants, trees, animals, birds, and phenomena of light and weather, but the more personal interactions and internal ruminations that these environments inspire. These excursions into nature are also a journey through history, as the landscape contains the residue and evidence of previous eras. From geological origins, the first habitation by Native Americans and subsequent European settlement, to the dramatic physical alterations that occurred throughout the 19th century, and the rapid industrialization and high-rise urbanity of the 20th, the artifacts of all these eras are evident upon contemplative bipedal observation. Wander, Wonder, Wilderness will capture how a simple walk through an urban wild can provide an opportunity to engage with the philosophical, socio-cultural, and economic complexity of the ever-changing relationship of humans to the wilderness.