The Feminine Landscape: Newest Image
My Own Desert Place, the newest image in my series The Feminine Landscape
The Feminine Landscape is a deeply meaningful personal project that I have been working on for quite a few years. At it’s essence, it is a series of self-portraits that chronicles my memorable experiences in the dramatic landscapes I visit and photograph. In this work, my intent is to creatively merge the landscape and portrait genres, with a result that is poetic, lyrical, and evocative.
Though this project is officially “retired” I do ocassionally make new images if I feel compelled to do so. And on my recent trip out to Death Valley National Park in California, I did just that. This image was made in Golden Canyon, not far from Zabiriskie Point, late in the day. My partner and I hiked many miles through this canyon and the adjacent gulch, and loved every minute of it. Some of my favorite images from the trip were made here. The light was harsh on this day, but as the sun got low, it picked up the texture of the badlands so beautifully, and cast a lovely shadow of my form in front of me. Prancing about on this gently curving hill felt a bit like being on Nature’s stage…
I have titled the image “My Own Desert Place” after the fourth stanza in Robert Frost’s Desert Places:
They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars - on stars where no human race is.
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places.
The land is a source of unending joy for me. In it I find solitude and isolation, shelter and sanctuary, peace, freedom, inspiration, and a sense of belonging. Feelings of exhilaration, adventurousness, daring, curiosity, and boldness manifest with ease in these places. In the land I find myself, and ultimately, a healing.
Below is the complete gallery of images from this project.
I hope this series conveys my love of nature and wild places, and a powerful but nuanced sense of the poetry we can all find out there, away from the madding crowds.
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For information on purchasing limited edition fine art prints from this series, check my store at the link above, or contact me via email or phone. I am happy to discuss options with you, as well as tell you the stories behind the images…
If you’d like to listen to me speak a bit about this project, you can reference my talk with Matt Payne on his podcast F-Stop Collaborate & Listen (I’m linking you to the YouTube version).
