Beneath the undulating waves of the Pacific Ocean lies a submerged realm—a tapestry of vibrant colors and slick textures, teeming with life. An unseen world, briefly unveiled by a distant moon before the waves return to reclaim their secret.
I arrived with different creative intentions but found myself irresistibly drawn to the murky saline pools, the cascading undersea plant life, and the intricate textures clinging to the rocks. I yearned to become a participant in this subaqueous world, to sink into its dark, wet embrace, and fully immerse myself within its depths.
Leviathan
Lithic
Lithic is my journey into the ancient, untouched deserts of northern Arizona and southern Utah. It began during a turbulent chapter in my life when I felt adrift and uncertain about my future. Drawn inexplicably to a land I had never seen, I sought solace and inspiration in the searing heat and vast expanses of the desert, surrounded by towering boulders and mysterious rock formations.
In the stillness and solitude of this place, I felt a deep connection to the energy of the landscape, as if tapping into a frequency that had hummed for millions of years. The vast, indifferent desert made me reflect on the fleeting nature of my own life. Despite its harshness, it felt like home, offering a sense of peace and clarity I had been unknowingly searching for.
In this series, I explore the unexpected beauty of the eroded landscapes in northern New Mexico. Wind, rain, snow, and relentless heat work together to crack and fracture the hard terrain, gradually washing away its outer layer to reveal smooth, lustrous, flesh-like contours beneath.
This journey holds great personal significance for me. Observing and documenting the slow, inevitable decay of these ancient formations evokes conflicting emotions, ranging from the melancholy of life's transient nature to the thrill of photographing ancient lands that few have seen or experienced. It is a landscape in continual transformation, where each moment reveals new facets of its beauty and history, constantly reshaped by the forces of nature over millennia.
Ghosts
Keeler
At the turn of the twentieth century, Keeler was a bustling California town on the banks of Owens Lake. Hotels, schools, stores, and even a public swimming pool were built. Then in the 1930s, the city of Los Angeles built a massive aqueduct that diverted water away from the Sierras and Owens Lake. Owens Lake evaporated and exposed toxic dust which blew over Keeler, killing its local economy and forcing residents to move away.
I documented Keeler not simply to experience its history, but to photograph the discordant relationship between the natural and unnatural. The abandoned dreams, ambitions, and possessions of those who came and left. To see firsthand the equally destructive power of nature and man.
Drift
As the sun sets over the southern deserts of New Mexico, the sky and sand meld together. Contrast softens, colors intensify, temperatures cool, and the mundane becomes transcendental. A temporal slipstream of pastel hues, bending gracefully towards an undefined horizon. In this magical moment, the heart quickens, pupils dilate, and the body feels free and untethered in the warm glow of twilight. This radiant transformation lasts only a few brief minutes before the world once again turns gray and dark.
In summer, snow and ice recede from Iceland’s mountainous interior, revealing vast fields of volcanic ash, basalt mountains, soft green moss, and estuaries of melted glacial water flowing towards the open sea. Sunlight is ever-present, dimming only for a couple of hours around midnight. The images in this series were captured on the ground and high above in the air.