Mars Suites was suggested by the predominant on-line format of the images downloaded from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: long rectangles of varying widths presented in black and white.

This format references traditional oriental landscape paintings – the tall rectangular form, the grisaille tones, the elevated perspective and exaggerated landforms. In addition, atmospheric conditions captured in the historic ink paintings by washes or stippling are rendered in the Mars photographs by frequent dust storms or sublimation of omnipresent carbon dioxide ice.

The Orbiter circles and records all areas of Mars, essentially looking for signs of water, valuable minerals, possible landing sites. Most areas are photographed again and again in different lighting and weather situations, much like an earthbound photographer will visit a site multiple times to photograph it in changing conditions.

Similar unusual landforms are found in disparate locations around the planet and most of the Mars Suites bring these three ‘locations’ together into one photograph.

The landmass captured in each panel in the photograph is roughly five kilometers wide by 10 to 12 kilometers long.

– EZ, 2019

Mars Suites are published in two formats as archival inkjet prints, each in an edition of 5.

Source Material: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona