The Short Version
I photograph public lands because they are democratic spaces in an increasingly privatized world. My work is about love of the wild spaces, access for everyone, and conservation of the American landscape. I want my work to make you fall in love with the same places I love, and I want my photography to inspire you to help work to protect them.
The Long Version
I photograph public lands because they belong to all of us.
Our public lands are one of the purest expressions of democracy we have. They aren’t fenced off for the wealthy. You don’t need status or privilege to watch and appreciate the sun rise over a pristine public lake. You just have to show up.
My photography comes from spending time in these places and returning to the same shorelines, wilderness, and overlooks over and over again, and watching how different light and different seasons transform them. I photograph these locations because I love them, and because I believe that loving something is the first step toward protecting it.
There is an ongoing movement to privatize public land and turn our shared heritage into private commodity. I reject that. My work is a form of resistance and an attempt to remind people what is at stake, and why these places matter.
I believe, as Toni Morrison said, that all art is political, and to pretend otherwise is to defend the status quo. My photographs are not neutral. They are about maintaining access, conservation, preservation, and the idea that beauty should never belong only to those who can afford it.
If my images help even a few people feel more connected to these places, and more invested in their future, and feel the desire to protect them, then the work is doing what it’s meant to do.