About

The Unchronicled Explorations is a multimedia project consisting of photographs, illustrations, and maps, telling the fictional story of two women explorers. This project is a collaboration between Caitlin Strom and Missy Washington.

The Unchronicled Explorations of Professor Vostrüm and Doctor Slobek

“In the quest for scientific truth, preconceived notions and fixed ideas must be abandoned. Hypothesis is the enemy of real discovery.”

-Professor N. Vostrüm

“The way I see it, a map is just a picture. The real point is to keep going. Go past the edges of the map, or go deep into the places the map don’t show. Then tear it up and make a new one.”

-Doctor P. Slobek

Deep in undocumented forests, high in unverified mountains, the doctor and the professor continue their journey. Doctor Slobek is a hardscrabble physician and mountaineer. She is a gifted climber and cartographer who follows her gut and acts on instinct. Professor Vostrüm is a highly educated botanist and theorist. Her ability to follow a logical progression to an unpredictable conclusion is remarkable.

Despite having somewhat opposite talents and dispositions, this unlikely pair share a deep bond. Together, they have abandoned societal expectations and set out on an inscrutable journey. It is unclear exactly what they hope to prove, but these objectives seem clear:

to live life as a never-ending exploration (as opposed to a path to accomplishment.)
to value curiosity over the amassing of knowledge.
to investigate a more fluid and indeterminate (as opposed to linear) experience of time, especially in relation to old-growth forests.
to undermine certain dualistic paradigms including (but not limited to): gender distinctions, goal and path, past and future, right and wrong, right and left, science and art.

While their prior history has been documented, this latest journey is unchronicled. All that remains are these images, along with a scattered sampling of maps and illustrations from Dr. Slobek’s journal, Herbarium specimens by Prof. Vostrüm, and some artifacts and vestiges from their tool kits.

SERIES I

The first series of photographs was shot in the spring of 2015 along the coast and in the redwood forests of Northern California.

SERIES II

The second series was created in the spring of 2016 in Wyoming through a residency with Jentel Foundation and the help of our IndieGoGo supporters.

PRINTS AVAILABLE

Limited edition prints are available. Please contact us for details.

About the Artists:

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Caitlin Strom

Caitlin Strom spent ten years in the film industry working in the camera department and learning to make images from people like Harris Savides, Gus Van Sant, and Matthew Barney. These days she spends her time growing vegetables, teaching meditation, and setting up wacky photographic scenes in the woods with Missy Washington. She lives in Chicago with her husband Nathan and their dog Basho.

Missy Washington

Missy Washington studied illustration and graphics at Pratt Institute in New York. Under the name i102fly, she has gone on to work for clients such as itunes, TED Global and Autodesk. She's now based in Los Angeles. In her spare time, she is most often rock climbing in big mountains and trying to hone the skills necessary to get into mountaineering. It's either that or drinking coffee.