Fearful Symmetry: Aerial Photos Shed a New Light on Suburban Development: Christoph Gielen’s new book, Ciphers, tackles questions of land use and sustainable growth from an uncommon perspective: the air. Photographed from helicopters, suburban developments in the American West are transformed into alien topography; the familiar trappings of residential life (houses, yards, streets and highways) become jigsaws of geometric abstraction. An infinite collection of hexagons, loops and ovals, Gielen’s images are reminiscent of crop circles, wondrous in their scale and meticulous design yet foreboding and possessed of a fearful symmetry.
