Growing up in the woods of northwest Connecticut, my first love was Nature. From a young age, days were spent running through the forests, exploring creeks and riverbeds, and discovering everything from the earthworms beneath our bare feet to the bird nests atop the white pines we climbed. It was within a valley of rolling hills where my love and connection to our land first began.

Many years later, during a time of particular need, life gifted me a Nikon F3 camera — a 35mm film camera made in the early 1980s. It traveled everywhere with me over the next several years. Photography calmed my mind, provided purpose, and instilled the power of quiet observation. I was captivated by the soft, romantic aesthetics of the film and the gift of reliving the memories once the images were developed days or weeks later. It grabbed my attention. Most importantly, it inspired a more intimate relationship with Nature, carrying me deeper into the woods and further along the coastlines for longer stretches of time.

Over the last decade, my photography has evolved to making black and white photographs using a large format view camera, a Chamonix 45f-2, and medium format film cameras, a Hasselblad 500cm and Mamiya 7ii. Using a wooden view and analog cameras with black and white film feels most appropriate when communing with and seeking to show the heart and soul of Nature. The medium requires you to slow down, which I have used as opportunities to fully immerse myself within the landscape. It is in that immersion that I feel most connected to myself, our Earth, and the Spirit of life. It is in these times that Coyote calmly walks feet away from your sit spot, Buck locks his eyes with you in the middle of a snowstorm, Bear saunters nearby on the riverstones, and Red-Tailed Hawk leads you safely out of a darkened Redwood forest. Nature and photography become portals to the sacred within and without.

Influenced by the photographs of Ansel Adams, Brett Weston, Clyde Butcher, Sébastien de Feraudy, David Brookover, and Sebastião Salgado, and by the writings and poems of Mary Oliver, Joy Harjo, Wendell Berry, Thomas Berry, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Tom Brown Jr., Rachel Carson, and Richard Powers, I seek to create images that show the spirit and soul of our lands, the interconnectedness of all living things, and the powerful healing nature of our Great Mother — all the while understanding that no image will ever turn out exactly as the heart feels it, or as the eye sees it, and that’s exactly how it is supposed to be.

Today, I am fortunate to live on the unceded ancestral lands of the Coast Miwok people near the headwaters of Tokelalume (Lagunitas Creek) in Sa-ta-ko (San Geronimo Valley). I honor with gratitude the land itself, and all of its ancestors: past, present, and emerging. These images are my humble offering to the beauty, power, and resilience of the land and its original stewards.

I ask that I may quiet my mind and listen with my heart to hear the guidance and wisdom that the land holds. Please teach me, Earth.