Liggend beeld van jonge vrouw met EEG-elektroden op haar hoofd zittend op een rots in steengebergte. / Kate participates in a study measuring how time in nature benefits cognition, organized by neuroscientist David Strayer. The EEG cap and facial electrodes record brain activity as Maggie is exposed to the natural environment of rural Utah

Lucas Foglia, 2015

Kate in an EEG Study of Cognition in the Wild, Strayer Lab, University of Utah, Utah 2015

Created by Lucas Foglia in 2015. The artwork is a pigment print on Archival Epson Premium Semimatte paper and displayed at 86.4 x 111.8 cm.

How important is nature for human health? In his series Human Nature, photographer Lucas Foglia examines the relationship between humans and the natural wilderness. He for instance follows a group of neuroscientists who are studying the soothing effects of being immersed in nature. The image of a sitting woman, clutching her knees, surrounded by an awe-inspiring landscape, while hooked up to a computer via electrodes in her head, create a science fiction-like atmosphere. This person is in fact participating in an actual study conducted by the University of Utah (US), in which researchers measure the participants’ brain activity while being exposed to different natural environments. The contrast between the high-tech equipment to which participant Kate is attached and the vast wilderness in the background create a visual tension. Perhaps Foglia wants to emphasise how far-removed humans have become from their natural environment?

© Lucas Foglia, courtesy of the Foam Collection

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Kate in an EEG Study of Cognition in the Wild, Strayer Lab, University of Utah, Utah 2015