Tyler W. Green

October 1, 2025
Susan Brubaker Knapp
Blog, Photography, pigment and ink, Printmaking

Tyler W. Green

photography, printmaking, pigment and ink – Chapel Hill

This is one in a series of posts about artists in the Orange County Artists Guild.

What is your medium? Why do you love it? How did you get interested in it?

My medium is photography, often combined with mapping, satellite imagery, and pigments from wildfire charcoal. I love it because it slows me down and reveals details I might otherwise miss, while showing both evidence and meaning. I started outdoors — climbing, biking, backpacking — and gradually realized even “pristine” places aren’t untouched. That curiosity, along with my background in data, led me to explore human impact on the environment through photography.

I worked in newspapers for several years, mostly as a data analyst and photojournalist. Covering events like the UFO Festival in Roswell sharpened how I observe, document, and tell stories — skills that now inform my photography and data-driven art. My work has been featured in online publications like Lenscratch and Fraction Magazine. Being featured gives exposure and places my work alongside other notable photography, opening doors for exhibitions and collaborations.

Do you work with unusual materials?

Yes. I collect wildfire charcoal, grind it into pigment, and use it to mark boulders or print photographs, embedding the carbon from fires into the work. I also treat data — maps, climate records, satellite imagery — as a material that shapes my images. Both approaches connect the work directly to the places and issues I explore.

Do you work in a sketchbook or journal? If so, how does it influence your process?

I use mind maps instead of a traditional sketchbook. They help me record ideas, explore connections, and organize both feelings and data, often sparking a project’s direction.

Did you have a “gateway craft” that you did as a child?

Landscape photography was my gateway. It taught me to slow down and observe closely, which evolved into environmental photography, land art, and performance — ways to respond directly to the landscapes and issues I care about.

Describe your process or technique.

I start with a question or feeling about the environment, then study data like maps and satellite images. I go into the field with my camera — sometimes using materials like wildfire charcoal — and create images that combine data with personal observation, helping people see and feel environmental changes.

What are the main subjects in your artwork?

I focus on landscapes and human impact — old-growth forests, drought-stricken regions, wildfire scars, and dust storms. These subjects reveal both nature’s beauty and the consequences of human activity, letting me combine personal experience with data to convey environmental change. I aim to help people see and feel human impacts on the land, guided by data, observation, and personal experience. I grew up in a desert. Experiencing such a harsh, dry landscape made towering old-growth forests feel almost otherworldly, shaping how I engage with the environment in my work.

In my old-growth forest series, I explored how centuries-old trees are affected by logging. Each image combines field observation, mapping, and creative techniques like artificial lighting to reveal stumps hidden in younger forests. Working in a series lets me show different facets of a landscape or issue over time.

My work is tied to environmental issues, particularly climate change and human impact. I aim to help people feel the scale and consequences of these changes, fostering awareness, empathy, and reflection.

What’s next for your work?

I’m moving beyond photography as documentation toward exploring concepts and our relationship with the environment. I enjoy direct interaction with the work — through performance or objects as characters — focusing on whatever approach best serves the ideas I’m investigating. I am also revisiting old projects. It helps me spot patterns or questions I didn’t fully explore. It can spark a new series or push me to try a different medium, deepening my dialogue with both my practice and the subjects I care about.

Tell us about your studio.

My studio is modest but functional. I experiment freely and produce small prints at home, using a small etching press and an inkjet printer. For larger prints, I collaborate with experts. The space supports both experimentation and careful production. My etching press is the heart of my studio. It lets me transform etched plates into prints with textures and depth you can actually feel — something digital tools can’t replicate. There’s a magic in turning ink and plates into a tangible image, connecting me directly to the material and the craft.

During the studio tour, visitors can see etching plates, intaglio prints, pigments, and inks in action — from burning charcoal to grinding sand. I’ll do printing demonstrations and show work from various series, offering a behind-the-scenes look at both process and materials.