August 14 - September 29

I am a fine art photographer, artist, and visual poet located in the Bay Area of California. Photography has been a passion of mine since I was a teenager. After graduating from St. Lawrence University with a degree in Fine Arts, I began to focus my photography on my family and the natural world, mostly in my home state and on Kauai, Hawaii. Inspired by that work, I began exploring and photographing landscapes, flora, and fauna in Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Oregon, Texas, and Alaska. I also had the privilege of photographing above and below the water at Palmyra Atoll, a nature preserve protected by the Nature Conservancy and US Fish and Wildlife Service. 

My more recent projects include an intensive study of an 80x80 foot area and the natural transformations that occurred there over the course of a year. Additionally, I enjoy exploring the world using an infrared camera, as it forces one to see that which surrounds us in a totally unique way. My newer infrared work has focused on flower photography and examines form, texture, and composition. Other photographic interests include alternative printing processes like cyanotype and palladium printing as well as blending my photography with other art forms such as needlework and mixed media projects.
 

I feel blessed to connect with the world through my camera and share my artistic vision with others, and I hope that others find joy in my work.

This project is the culmination of a long journey exploring infrared photography. I became interested in this area while researching genres of photography and looking for a new project on which to work. I quickly converted the sensor of an older camera to a 590nm infrared one with optimism and excitement. I thought it was going to be an instantly fulfilling adventure, yet it quickly turned into a challenging, overwhelming trek. Not only did I have to push myself to see the world differently than our human eye is able, but I also had to learn new and complex processes for capturing and then developing the photographs in the digital darkroom. Most of the photographic techniques regarding light and camera settings no longer applied to my work because infrared light has different characteristics than visible light. For instance, infrared wavelengths are longer than visible ones. As a result, cameras need to focus at a different distance to capture a sharp image, and thus depth of field becomes shallower. 

It took many months filled with frustration and attempts to learn and gather information on how to capture and process images. In truth, I almost quit and relegated the camera body to the back of a closet. However, after an outing photographing flowers in an expansive, local garden, I finally captured some images that sparked excitement and launched me fully into this project. 

My images are an exploration of form, texture, and composition. I became fascinated with the way flowers reflected infrared light, and my pictures revealed details that weren't initially visible to my eye. As the subjects began to age, wilt, and dehydrate, their qualities frequently became more beautiful and intricate. I recognized how incredible grace was visible in all stages of the lives of these subjects. As the project matured, the work became a metaphor, urging me to deeply see the beauty in all things as they age.