Nature is ever changing. Never more so than today. Yet the increasingly ephemeral state of our remaining wild places can be documented — and remembered. The photograph provides us a way to preserve not only a moment in the woods, but to serve as a voice for those same wild places that no longer exist.
I began recording these lost landscapes as an archaeologist. At first, my photography was unintentional; I only snapped shots as a way to capture patterns I sensed from the forest. But over time I realized that these images were really the only way to return — because an archaeologist is called in to make sure a road, industrial park or housing development can move forward. After he leaves, the bulldozers follow.
I began to document places endangered and preserved, hoping to show the same essence found in both — hoping to demonstrate the value of all wild places regardless their legislated fate. This exhibition, then, is an epitaph, a plea and a celebration. And, most especially, an opportunity to share with others those exceptional moments when I have witnessed Nature as artist.
exhibition
Florida Environs
LeMoyne Arts
June 1–30, 2018. Tallahassee, Florida
Curated by Ann Kozeliski, Art Director
selected works