Elizabeth LoPiccolo longed for a recreationally-oriented backyard however, such active maintenance was an impossibility.

At first she tried laying down tarps to prevent the eruption of rhizomatic weeds, but they sprang up all around the perimeters and soon the space was as lush as ever. And so for two summers and one winter she decided to let things grow, and die, and grow, photographing them with care and devotion. A softer form of engagement seemed to be the path to happiness.

This show’s title is borrowed from ecology, in which a disturbance regime describes the predictable disruption of ecological systems. Often it is a natural occurrence, such as the regular flooding of a river, or the patchy burning of  a forest.

Other times the disturbance is anthropogenic, such as the regular mowing and weed-whacking performed by a neighbor at 7am on Saturdays. 

Elizabeth LoPiccolo is a photographer and musician living in Brooklyn. She is interested in relationships between people and the places they inhabit and the intersections of natural and built environments.