Illumination Portfolio, 2006-2009

Click the active photo for image description and pricing. Additional images are available in the Archive. The following is an essay that will be included in the upcoming Illumination Print Folio.

The landscape around me is dark. Menacing clouds are still churning overhead. Small hailstones crunch under my feet as I hike across rain-soaked tundra to the top of a nearby peak. A steady, cold wind has replaced the afternoon warmth. I am miles from the nearest road, in the middle of the wilderness—walking in the wake of a violent display of light and sound. But I can think of nothing except what might happen next. It's summer in the Rocky Mountains, and I've done this a hundred times before. 

As I climb higher, a mix of nervousness and adrenaline is feeding a familiar anticipation. I find solace in the sound of the echoing thunder, as it fades into the distant mountains. The storm has passed and a calm is returning to the land. The breaking clouds overhead stir my expectations. I finally reach a chosen high point overlooking the mountains, and almost simultaneously let out an involuntary "wow". I am overwhelmed and humbled by the expanse of beauty that surrounds me. And then, the light comes. 

In an instant, the alpine world around me comes to life in a brilliant display of light and shadow. I stand in awe and watch the unpredictable dance of light across the landscape—a nervous pull between dark and light that is both ominous and playful. For a time, I am part of a wild and timeless cycle that has repeated itself for longer than I can imagine. The light and the land are completely oblivious to my presence, but I'm standing before a grand stage. My imagination soars across the endless landscape. I've never felt more alive. Clarity and renewal replace all my cares and worries. I remain still and watch until the shadows grow long.

The impact of this experience is immeasurable. It won't be truly understood until I return to the realities of day-to-day life. It's here in the midst of a complex world that I remember the light that falls on the open land—a light that has the power to reach the quiet places of my soul. And then it calls me back. Again and again.