The Natural State in Four Seasons

I'm happy to announce that an exhibition of my work, titled "The Natural State in Four Seasons," is now on display at Laman Library in North Little Rock. The show contains 33 photographs taken across the varied landscapes of Arkansas over the last fourteen years.  Locations in the show include the Buffalo National River, Blanchard Springs and Hot Springs National Park. But there are also pictures from less visited locations, like an oxbow lake in the Delta or a waterfall deep in the Ozark Mountains.



There are many things that Artificial Intelligence is hurting, and one of those is the art of photography. True photography requires skill and patience, and the ability to be at the exact right place, at the exact right time, with the exact right conditions (along with a fair amount of luck). It is much more than fake images attempting to be a lame facsimile of reality. It is my hope that this exhibition showcases photography for the art form that it is, one that is under assault from those who see it as nothing but “content” to post on social media for us to see between ads and scams.



One of the photographs in the show is of the setting sun hitting the summit of Pinnacle Mountain, which makes it look as if Pinnacle Mountain is erupting. This photo was taken from Two Rivers Park Bridge, and there is only a brief period every year where the sun and mountain are perfectly aligned for this to occur. In order to get this picture, the horizon also has to be clear. Clouds in the sky can obscure the sun, even clouds that are hundreds of miles away.



Other photographs represent similar moments - a swirl of fallen leaves caught in a current below a waterfall. Thick fog reflecting the bright lights on the Clinton Park Bridge, turning the night sky into a deep shade of purple. The explosions of fireworks over the State Capitol Building, captured by the camera during a 1.6 second exposure. These images could have probably been much easier achieved through some Photoshop edits, or some prompts on AI. But the photographs on display at Laman Library represent real and decisive moments. Ones that I hope serve as a reminder of how powerful and important photography can be.



To view the other photos in the exhibition, please visit HERE.



The exhibition is open now, and I'd like to kindly invite anyone reading this to please head on down to Laman Library to check out the show (2801 Orange Street in North Little Rock, gallery is on the second floor). There will be an opening reception on Friday, Oct. 18th, from 6-8 PM. The show will be on display until November 27th.



Here is the Artist's Statement I put together for the show:

It was almost what you’d imagine hiking through a rainforest would be like, except we were still in Arkansas. A storm earlier that day had saturated the woods, turning the leaves into a deep green too vibrant to be real. Water puddled on the trail, which at times looked more like a small creek flowing through the woods. The only sounds were raindrops hitting the trees and the wet squishy sound of our hiking boots in the mud.

The trail was heading towards a waterfall as unique as its name - Fuzzybutt Falls. It is a delicate 16-foot-tall waterfall, sitting at the end of a short and narrow box canyon deep in the Ozark Mountains. It started to storm again when we arrived. The sounds of heavy rain, combined with the splash of the waterfall, created a cacophony of sound that echoed off the rocky canyon walls. But those canyon walls also provided shelter from the rain, allowing us to freely move about without worrying about getting soaked. We spent a lot of time there taking pictures, from just about every conceivable angle, reluctant to leave. Eventually we set the cameras down and just watched as the raindrops rippled across the creek, and the waterfall slowly and steadily increased its flow.



I know it sounds cliche, but sitting under those rocky bluffs while a storm raged on was a peaceful and sublime moment; one of those rare moments when things seem to perfectly converge, when you are at the right place at the exact right time you need to be there. The photographs in this exhibition are more than just snapshots. Each one represents a unique moment that I was lucky enough to capture with a camera. I’m humbled and grateful that you are here to see them.



Increasingly, it seems that photography is being devalued in our ultra-modern and overly-online world. Photographs are being reduced to nothing more than content on social media feeds, squeezed unceremoniously between ads and spam. But photography is much more than just a way to get likes and engagement. At its best, photography is a way to showcase and document the world and our times. To paraphrase a quote: We don’t just take photographs, we ask quietly to borrow a fraction of time. To preserve that fleeting moment, which would have otherwise floated on like raindrops hitting a creek.



These photographs were taken with either a Canon 6D or an Olympus E-30, between 2010 and 2024. They are the culmination of countless trips spent driving or hiking across the state, from the Delta to the Ozarks. I would like to thank Richard Theilig and everyone at Laman Library for hosting this exhibition. Also I would like to thank Matt Kennedy and Zack Andrews, my hiking and photography buddies, who accompanied me on many of these trips (including the one to Fuzzybutt), and who helped make sure I didn’t get lost in the woods or fall off a cliff.



And I cannot thank enough my wife Caroline for her encouragement and infinite patience. And also my sons Jonah and Elliott for all the times they’ve indulged their father stopping to take a picture of an old barn. I would never have been able to take these photographs, or put on this show, without their support.