Project Details ​

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The central argument for the Anthropocene as “a new human-dominated geological epoch” lies in the concept of the anthrop, or humans, affecting and changing the Earth (Lewis and Maslin, 171). To visually demonstrate this human-induced change, the comparative photo essay “The Anthropocene Effect in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area” juxtaposes historical photographs and present-day recreations highlighting the same locations shown in the selected images in the year 2020. ​

 

The range of historical reference images used spans from 1847, when photography began rising in popularity and the year the city became officially incorporated under the name Atlanta  (“Atlanta, Georgia (through 1900)”), until 1964, which Lewis and Maslin propose as the most accurate Anthropocene Global Strato-type Section and Point (GSSP) due to the global 14C peak which was dated through identifying “annual rings of a pine tree (Pinus sylvestris) from King Castle, Niepołomice, 25 km east of Kraków, Poland” (Lewis and Maslin, 176). 

The photo series features two central themes: transportation and commercial buildings, both of which carry great environmental impacts and relate to the Anthropocene. Transportation in present-day Atlanta particularly is cause for many headaches as public transportation is practically nonexistent, leading to increased use of personal cars, further multiplying our CO2 emissions tremendously, and because of poor infrastructure and planning, heavy traffic at peak times leading to some rather hilarious memes, but also some of the deadliest roads in the country. Commercial buildings can also be noted throughout the city as marks of human intervention throughout time, and while this series investigates primarily buildings that remain in-tact from their original construction, the changes around the steadfast structures are almost more striking than having completely demolished buildings. 

 

Additionally, due to the vast time span examined in the photo series, we gain a view of Atlanta through the lens of multiple incarnations. The following photo series demonstrates the drastic and potentially detrimental consequences our so-called progress in the aforementioned industries could have on the Earth, its natural cycles, and our ability to survive here as a species.

 

In order to more deeply understand the change demonstrated in this photo series, we must first analyze the three Atlantas being represented in the photos: 1847 Atlanta, 1964 Atlanta, and present-day Atlanta. ​

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Before becoming Atlanta, the city was known under the names Terminus, due to its location at the end of the railroad, Thrasherville, for Georgia settler and pioneer John Thrasher, and Marthasville, named after the Governor's daughter. In 1847, the city officially became incorporated under the name Atlanta. According to the World Population Review, three years after becoming officially becoming Atlanta, rumored to be either a feminine form for the Atlantic or again named after the Governor's daughter whose middle name was Atalanta, the 1850 U.S. census reported 2,572 inhabitants. Only eight years prior in 1842, the World Guide reported that the settlement had only 30 people. This dramatic increase in population in only eight years was a direct result of the three rail lines which ran through Atlanta. Despite doubts that Atlanta would ever become a large, metropolitan area from the railroad's chief engineer Stephen Long who wrote that "The Terminus will be a good location for one tavern, a blacksmith shop, a grocery store, and nothing else," Atlanta has become one of the country's fastest-growing cities and remains a transportation hub (albeit for air travel instead of train, another human change to be discussed from the last 170 years). The oldest photo in the series shown above is from the ever-still popular intersection Five Points in the area now known as Downtown Atlanta. The infrastructure in place in the then roughly 45-year old city demonstrates the speed at which humans at the time developed the land and built the city. Along with the roadways in place primarily used by pedestrians in the photo, tall buildings, thriving businesses ("Drug Store Open at All Hours"), and advertisements ("Havana Cuban Cigar Factory") can all be seen along with the tall telephone tower and wiring across the city streets. 

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Lewis and Maslin argue that the Anthropocene begins in 1964, technically after the start of what the same scholars refer to as the Great Acceleration thought to have begun in 1950. We begin to notice changes in the cityscape in the later photos in the series, such as this 1960 shot of the recently completed freeway in Midtown Atlanta. 1950 is truly a turning point for human-kind and the Earth at which we begin to populate and develop the Earth at unheard-of speeds and proportions. Following the 1956 Congressional bill the Federal-Aid Highway Act,  a 41,000-mile National System of Interstate and Defense Highways was to be constructed over the next 13 years (the Georgia Department of Transportation actually has a wonderfully informative document titled Historic Context of the Interstate Highway System in Georgia if you're interested in more detailed information on the interstate system). Parking lots begin taking over the city as more people opt for driving their own car instead of taking public transportation, which is slowly being weaned away. The Civil Rights Movement is fully underway with support and inspiration from Atlanta native, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To again rely on the World Population Report, Atlanta's population in the 1960 census encroaches half a million, totaling 487,455 people. This is merely the beginning of the massive growth the city will undergo in the following 50 years. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Celebrating 173 years as a city, Atlanta shows no signs she will stop growing. As mentioned above, Atlanta ranked eighth in the United States for the fastest-growing cities in the country. The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways was finished and expanded beyond anyone's imagination and aided in developing what we know today as the Metro Atlanta Area encompassing 30 counties and extending as far West as the Alabama-Georgia line as of 1990. Unfortunately, it didn't develop with a solid plan in place, so we're stuck with poorly designed interstates and connectors with names like Spaghetti Junction. This expansion has also led for our "Metro" population to reach 5.6 million inhabitants as of 2020, making it the 9th largest metro area in the United States. Jackson Street Bridge couldn't be included in the official photo series due to it first being completed during the Anthropocene in the early 70s, but it is an iconic, although unoriginal, spot for photographers to capture the Atlanta skyline and in this photographer's opinion, is a splendid way to show the change across our city on a large scale. Atlanta is not known for being one of the "greenest" cities, but we have started making improvements to the way we treat our planet and our city. Although our total emissions increased by 84% since 1990, our per-person emissions actually decreased by 3%, so we can regard this increase as in-line with our population increase. Furthermore, in 2015 we joined the Rockefeller's 100 Resilient Cities Network, and despite its conclusion in 2019, we continue to work towards building a more resilient city. 

 

Known for the Big Chicken, the Trap Music Museum and the Hip-Hop capital, Coca-Cola, generally horrible sports teams with overly expensive stadiums (with the exception of Atlanta United), complete incompetence when dealing with snowstorms, we are Atlanta, and this is how we've changed our city in the last 173 years.