(Ridgedale) The 16 photographs in this installation represent a larger exhibition titled Three Gorges that was held at Minnesota Center for Photography (MCP) in northeast Minneapolis. The original exhibition of 79 photographs, curated by MCP’s artistic director George Slade from the work of 22 different artists, and an accompanying catalogue that includes all the photographs in the show, sought to record many perspectives on the construction of the world’s largest hydroelectric dam and its impact on the surrounding land and people.

Discussed for decades, begun in 1993, and scheduled for completion in 2009, the Three Gorges Dam, located on the Yangtze River near Sandouping, China is an astounding feat of engineering that has been controversial since its inception for the environmental and sociological impact it has on the river landscape and those who have lived on its banks for generations.

At 610 feet high and 1.3 miles long, the dam is the world’s largest concrete object. When completed and fully functioning it will generate significant amounts of power for China’s rapidly modernizing population and control the often catastrophic flooding in the Yangtze valley. It also brings significant losses; the reservoir basin is inundating thousands of archeological and historic sites and villages and has displaced over two million people.

The photographs here move downriver if you read, Western style, from left to right, from the upper reaches of the reservoir by Chongqing to the dam site itself, a distance longer than Lake Superior. Photographs like these, from photographers who are both native to the region and visitors from outside, are well suited to addressing the many facets of this phenomenon. Bringing multiple points of view to bear on the Three Gorges project enhance our ability to assimilate the enormity of the dam and its potential impact.

MCP has a continuing program of exhibitions, education, public programs, and lab access for photographers at all levels of development. Please see the web site, www.mncp.org, or call 612-824-5500 for more information.