When we throw something away, where does it go? Nancy Macko’s Decompositions, a photographic series featuring her vegetable compost, posits the idea that nothing is disposable. As temporal items start to lose their color and shape, they seem to be decaying. But in fact, putrefaction marks a new life cycle, a transition into matter just as lively and beautiful as before. Majestic scenes of fermentation in Macko’s photography give viewers a new understanding of mortality and challenge what they define as beautiful.
Decompositions arose from Macko’s photography of dying plants after the passing of her mother. This examination of life coalesced during the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, Macko had a restricted environment in which to develop her creative process and actualize the series. Using the sun as her light and her backyard as her studio, Macko took her camera and photographed her kitchen compost through its plastic container. She took many photographs of each intended image, experimenting with the focus as well as the effects of the natural world. The photos are largely untouched. Effects such as scratching and distressing are simply the wear and tear of the compost bin and the shadows of surrounding trees. Macko wanted her audience to be “included in the magic.” Manipulating the photos would ruin their effect.
When asked about her inspiration for the series, Macko insisted that she didn’t need a vision: Decompositions essentially composed itself. When the sun sets or snow falls, the sights of nature are already art. Likewise, in her photos, Macko’s survey of nature’s discarded elements allows viewers to better recognize the beauty of life around them.
The stories for each work came after the photo was taken. The pieces have a sense of playfulness that provokes personal reactions and interpretations. Macko encourages viewers to reflect upon the scenes as they see them. In her work, she includes art historical, global, literary, and even imaginary references. For instance, Odalisque recalls Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ La Grande Odalisque (1814). This painting of a reclining, nude woman parallels the natural curves of decaying greens. Similarly, the vibrant mold in Weather Patterns reminds Macko of the shifting figures in a weather forecast. At its core, the pieces are intended to dance, to play with the viewer’s imagination, to write their own stories.
There is a clear sense of gratitude when Macko is asked about her work. A fortunate synthesis of life cycles and imagination, Decompositions is a provoking project, allowing her to explore photography and what it means to mature throughout one’s life. Plants, while not sentient like humans, share an analogous process of aging and change. Behind the facade of vegetal enigma, Decompositions poses a question of how comfortable people are with transience, and if beauty can be found in what is thought to be putrid.
Written by Annecy Culp ‘28