~Artist statement~

“I pondered, scrutinized and photographed the willow copse from all sides, from a distance as well as close up, and I could find no name for whatever it was that I found so lovely.” - from Esther Kinsky, “River”

The photographs in my latest series, Wildwood, were made on familiar land, in places I walk or drive by every day: woods, roadsides, swamps, fields and coastal scrub. The vegetation is not exotic or cultivated. Yet the beauty I see in these landscapes; the color and texture in weeds, grasses and brush, is more satisfying to my eye than a carefully planted botanical garden.

Returning to the same spots, day after day, the light always new, seasons beginning and slowly ebbing, countless paintings formed in my viewfinder. Being with my camera in these places, I felt an ineffable sense of serenity and joy.

March, 2020