In Northern Wisconsin, where I grew up, my backyard was forests, fields, lakes and rivers. Even though I never really bought into the strong religious culture of the area I aways felt a sense of an unseen presence that could not be defined with language or logic. As a boy, my bond with nature was glued with curiosity and I hunted for relics that would prove the presence was real. While wandering I’d be thrilled to find fossils, little phenomenon of nature that transcended time. I would collect them and wonder about ancient stories told in the stone.

I became a photographer out of that beginning and the camera became the tool with which I continue the hunt. The photographs in this collection come from patterns I see in rocky areas and badlands where erosion is at work bringing long-buried forms to the surface. In these places photographing is like meditating while wandering in a sculpture garden. If I’m successful in my work I can break through the bulwark of my brain’s internal dialog and let imagination find metaphors and myths in the landscape. I feel the thrill of discovery when I find these emerging spirits.

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