There is beauty and order inherent in the pastoral and tranquil side of nature as effused by a green hillside or valley pasture of peacefully grazing sheep or cows, an eruption of brightly colored flowers on the forest floor, or by a lily pond on a quiet and lazy, late summer afternoon. A different kind of beauty can be found in haphazard arrangements of objects within nature as, for example, trees, logs and boulders deposited after a flood or landslide, and in the asymmetry and helter-skelter seen in the wear-and-tear of decay, aging, the dying and dead. Indeed, this manifestation of nature is often its most visible face, and consequently, difficult to ignore, overlook or forget. Because of its omnipotence and ubiquity, perhaps nature’s “chaotic” side should be captured more often head on in photography without any (or at least with minimal) artist interference and manipulation, thereby objectively rendering the “beauty in the beast” honestly and truthfully.

Such photographic images may provoke a sense of uneasiness or disorientation, and can be quite unsettling or even outright disturbing, rather than evoking a comforting sense of order, wholeness, symmetry and tranquility. Indeed, portraying this aspect of nature may be non-traditional or even heretical in the context of what is traditionally considered to make a pleasing photograph. Clearly, when experimenting with this subject matter, a knife edge is being traversed with sheer cliffs on both sides. Nevertheless, endeavors to reveal the “uglier” and more “distressing” face of nature should perhaps be attempted, because in so doing, an inherent hidden grace and beauty might be unveiled at the core of it all.

Coming from a tradition of black and white medium and large format film photography, the more recent addition of medium format digital color and large format color film to the repertoire (being a bit late to the party) has been an exciting, alternative prism through which to capture the world. From the brash and vivid reds and yellows of summer flowers and autumn foliage to the more subtle ochre, burnt sienna and purple pastels in the desert, it is (to quote Robert Frost) all “sheer morning gladness at the brim”!