Photography exhibitions opening at the start of June offer encounters with the natural and built environment. Traversing American highways whilst constructing new, uncharted arenas, this week’s recommended shows test the limits of representation.

Wild West, Alp Galleries, Frankfurt

Comprising photographs by Joachim Hildebrand, part of the 2018 Aesthetica Art Prize. The collection investigates notions of the American dream, examining the mythic nature of the region by looking closely at the urban structures through bold colours, contrasts and static forms.

Until 17 August. Find out more here. 

Noémie Goudal, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki

“For me, an image is a place that you can visit and revisit. It isn’t a place that you capture for a second, it’s a place you can live in.” Goudal’s (b. 1984) compositions combine staged structures with natural landscapes, questioning the spatial boundaries between artificiality and reality.

Until 12 August. Find out more here.

Longer Ways to Go: Photography of the American Road, Center for Creative Photography, Arizona

Further tapping into the westernised mythos, this show explores the relationship between image-making and the open road. CCP pulls together work by well-known figures including Dorothea Lange, Stephen Shore, Lee Friedlander and Ed Ruscha, examining themes of travel and personal freedom.

From 9 June. Find out more here.

Balthasar Burkhard, MASI Lugano

This retrospective celebrates Burkhard’s (b. 1944) prolific oeuvre. The practitioner is known for bringing photography into the realm of contemporary art, creating monumental tableaux depicting expansive built and natural environments, animals and the human form.

From 10 June. Find out more here.

A Beautiful Moment, Huis Marseille

The seven Japanese photographers included in Huis Marseille’s latest exhibition approach the theme of organic matter from individual viewpoints. Demonstrating the influence of wabi sabi – a uniquely Japanese aesthetic – each artist finds striking visual and conceptual details.

From 9 June. Find out more here.

Credits:
1. Joachim Hildebrand, from Wild West, 2015-17.
2. Noémie Goudal: Observatoire III.  Courtesy The Finnish Museum of Photography
3. Joel Meyerowitz, Red Interior, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1977. Collection Center for Creative Photography. ©Joel Meyerowitz
4. Balthasar Burkhard, Mexico City, 1999. © Estate Balthasar Burkhard
5. Blast #5702, 1995 © Naoya Hatakeyama. Collection Huis Marseille