Magnum photographer Larry Towell explores the issues of land and landlessness in this mid-career retrospective. The exhibition opens with Towell's most recent body of work, The World from My Front Porch, a series of intimate portraits taken not far from his own front porch, examining his family members and their close relationship to their Ontario homestead. In sharp contrast, the next section of the exhibition reviews Towell's work over the past twenty years, witnessing the crisis of human landlessness throughout the world.

The retrospective follows Towell from Central America to the Middle East, documenting migrant workers, prisoners, protesters, and victims of war, terrorism, and natural disaster. Sections of the exhibition include The Mennonites, El Salvador, Then Palestine, Protest, In the Wake of Katrina, and September 11, 2001, with text drawn from accompanying publications written by the artist and produced concurrently with each project. "We must address the social and political contradictions of our time," Towell writes. "I believe photography can be part of that process."

The exhibition comprises 140 black-and-white framed photographs, including dramatic, large-scale panoramas. Also available by arrangement directly with the artist are Towell's audio recordings of music and ambient sounds, video recordings of scenes at home and abroad, personal family albums, manuscripts and publications, and artifacts collected around the world. This unique presentation leaves the viewer with a heightened awareness of the importance of land, and the crisis of landlessness.

A 224-page hardcover color catalogue accompanies the exhibition, weaving photographs, poetry and history to form an intimate autobiography of the artist. The World from My Front Porch (London: Chris Boot, 2008), available in English, can be ordered directly from Distributed Art Publishers, Inc.

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