We have assaulted our planet, and now it is assaulting us. We are experiencing unprecedented shifts in temperature, precipitation, ocean levels, greenhouse gases, and other elements that affect nature and in turn affect us. While I have always been a nature photographer, I have recently turned my lens to the sky to record the weather that has become so extreme.

My theme is urgency—the quiet before the storm, the tension in the atmosphere, both literally and metaphorically. I use black and white infrared photography because it transforms the familiar into something haunting: water and sky turn deep black, while chlorophyll-rich foliage glows with an almost supernatural brightness. This extreme contrast isn’t just aesthetic—it’s symbolic.

I want viewers to feel that tension—not just as a visual experience, but as a call to awareness. My work doesn’t shout; it whispers, then lingers. I hope it cuts through the numbness of constant climate news and reminds people that we are part of this landscape, not separate from it. When you stand before these images, I want you to feel the weight of the sky, the stillness before impact, and the quiet responsibility we all carry. This is not just documentation. It’s a warning—and an invitation to act.

I’ve always felt a deep connection to nature. Reading Thoreau’s Walden as a 15-year-old was a revelation—finally, someone articulated the value of the natural world in a way that mirrored my own beliefs. His story of living simply in the woods fascinated me, and the following summer, I joined a six-week outdoor survival course inspired by his example. We trained in physical and mental resilience, culminating in a solo camping trip along a river in the Berkshires—no cell phones, just solitude and 20 pounds of gear. At 15, I didn’t have the focus I have now, but that experience planted a seed. Over the past 50 years, my visual practice and deeper knowledge of birds, insects, plants, and animals have sharpened my awareness. Recently, I rediscovered Thoreau through Ben Shattuck’s Six Walks in the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau—a book that led me to his nature-centered novel, The History of Sound, and brought the journey full circle.

Other inspirations include our family’s move in 2024 to a hilltop meadow in with no power lines- except for a few rooflines, we have unprecedented views of the sky from our doorstep. I love to watch the never-ending drama of the clouds.  It is one of nature’s most original screenplays.  This past summer, I discovered the work of photographer Barbara Bosworth and I  saw her speak at the Vermont Center for Photography. I‘m inspired by her 8 x 10 view camera work, fascination with skies, and decades of devotion to nature. 

When I am out with my camera, the eternal man vs. nature/nature vs. man theme is very often streaming through my head. In my photo Tennis for Ducks, I came upon a local  tennis court, only to find it so profoundly flooded that the water was reflecting the sky and the surrounding trees. Rain can occasionally cancel a tennis game, but this was an unusual rain because of what man had thrust upon nature over decades and centuries, and nature was sending a message.  Likewise in Dark Clouds, Sunny Landscape, White Hollow Farm. On a sunny June afternoon, an ominous dark cloud drew closer and became larger as I drove north. As I pulled out near an open field, the contrast of the massive dark cloud against the still-sunlit trees (rendered even brighter by the camera’s infrared filter) and vulnerable small barn in the lower left corner reminds us of how many strong and unusual weather events we have had in the last decade or so - many more so than in the past.  Nature has been violated, and is reclaiming what is hers.  

In a related theme, our climate and our flora and fauna have undergone visible changes in the past several decades. We see violent skies, and more trees suffering from storm damage and disease. In Swamp Story, the inky water and radiant cloud tops heighten the drama of an approaching storm, mirroring the climate crisis we can no longer ignore. The medium becomes the message: what was once balanced is now charged with tension. In Gloaming Sky, taken at sunset following a severe thunderstorm, the sky is rippling towards us in dark waves from the horizon, stretching to infinity, portending some sort of eternal doom. In May Storm Approaching, a bulging ebony curtain of rain heads toward us, threatening thunder, lightning, wind, and perhaps hail in its wake. Finally, in the quieter Swamp’s Edge, June, there is no storm afoot but there is still something not quite right in this scene. The value relationships between the sky and the vegetation are unbalanced; there is a sour color and feeling about everything. Upon closer inspection, there are invasive phragmites, introduced by man, present in the swamp which threaten to destroy the fragile natural balance.

Selected Exhibitions: 

Five Points Gallery, Juried Group Exhibition, “Small Works,” Torrington, CT,  November 2026, Patricia Carrigan, Juror.

2026 National Juried Exhibition, Group Exhibit, Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, CT, September-October 2026, Barbara Grossman, Juror.

Norfolk Library, Juried Solo Exhibit, Norfolk Library, CT, September 2026.

Nor’Easter, Juried Group Exhibit, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT, August-September, 2026, Robert Calafiore, Juror. 

Arts Connected Showcase, Juried Group Exhibit, Northwest Connecticut Arts Council, Buck’s Rock Camp, New Milford, CT,  August 2026.

Canton Artists’ Guild, 66th Anniversary Exhibition, July-August 2026.

Photo Place Gallery, Juried Group Exhibit, “Portals” Middlebury, VT,  June 2026, Ann Jastrab, Juror.

Washington Art Association,Juried Group Exhibit, “Beauty in Breaking,” May-June 2026, Nathaniel Cardonsky, Elizabeth MacDonald, Saun Ellis, Jurors. 

Canton Artists’ Guild, Vernal Vibes, Canton, CT, April-May 2026. 

Canton Artists’ Guild, Member-Guest Exhibition, Canton, CT, March-April 2026.

Steep Rock Association,  Juried Group Exhibit, 100th Anniversary Exhibit at Spring Hill Vineyards in New Preston, CT, September 2025. 

Five Points Gallery, Juried Group Exhibit, “Small Works,” Torrington, CT,  July 2025,  Jill Enfield, Juror. 

Photo Place Gallery, Juried Group Exhibit, “Portals” Middlebury, VT,  June 2026, Ann Jastrab, Juror. 

Canton Artists’ Guild, Vernal Vibes, Canton, CT, April-May 2026. 

Canton Artists’ Guild, Member-Guest Exhibition, Canton, CT, March-April 2026.

Five Points Gallery, Juried Group Exhibit, “Small Works,” Torrington, CT,  July 2025,  Jill Enfield, Juror. 

Black Box Gallery, Juried Group Exhibit, Focus: Trees and Water, Portland, Oregon, May 2025, Todd Johnson, Juror. 

Arts Connected Showcase, Juried Group Exhibit, Northwest Connecticut Arts Council, Washington Depot, April 2025.

Members’ Show,  Juried Group Exhibit, Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, CT, March 2025, Jane Eckert, Juror. 

Steep Rock Association,  Juried Group Exhibit, 100th Anniversary Exhibit at Spring Hill Vineyards in New Preston, CT, September 2025. 

Five Points Gallery, Juried Group Exhibit, “Small Works,” Torrington, CT,  July 2025,  Jill Enfield, Juror. 

Black Box Gallery, Juried Group Exhibit, Focus: Trees and Water, Portland, Oregon, May 2025, Todd Johnson, Juror. 

Arts Connected Showcase, Juried Group Exhibit, Northwest Connecticut Arts Council, Washington Depot, April 2025.

Members’ Show,  Juried Group Exhibit, Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, CT, March 2025, Jane Eckert, Juror. 

Five Points Gallery, Juried Group Exhibit, “Small Works,” Torrington, CT, November 2024, Steven Holmes, Juror. 

Photo Place Gallery, Juried Group Exhibit, “Landscape,” Middlebury, VT, October 2024, Ann Jastrab, Juror. 

Arty Party Benefit Exhibit for East Mountain House, Juried Group Exhibit, White Hart Inn, June 2024, Elizabeth Macaire, Curator. 

Oliver Wolcott Library,  Juried Joint Exhibit, “Land & Sky,” with printmaker Sally Frank, Litchfield, CT, April-May 2024.

Photo Place Gallery, Juried Group Exhibit, “The Decisive Moment,” Middlebury, VT, September 2023, Aline Smithson, Juror. 

Indian Mountain School, Themed Juried Group Exhibits, Lakeville, CT, April 2023, February 2019, and February 2018. 

Serendipity Gallery, Juried Group Exhibit, Litchfield, CT, April-June, 2019. 

Loft Artists Association, “The Shape of Memories,”  Juried Group Exhibit,Stamford, CT, August-September 2019. 

Harwinton Public Library, Solo Exhibit, Harwinton, CT, September-October 2019.

Loft Gallery, The Smithy, Solo Exhibit, New Preston, CT, August 2017. Curator: Susan Newbury. 

Litchfield Historical Society, Miniature Marvels, Group Exhibit, May 2017.

Oliver Wolcott Library,  Solo Exhibit, Summer 2016.

Center for Photographic Art, Members’ Juried Exhibit, Carmel, CA, Richard Gadd, Juror, 2015.

University of Connecticut, Juried Group Exhibit, Greater Hartford Campus, 2008. 

Common Ground, Solo Exhibit, Litchfield, CT,  April 2010. 

Haight-Brown Vineyard, Solo Exhibit, Litchfield, CT, January 2008.

Schumacher Gallery, Westover School, Solo Exhibit, January 2005. 

Oliver Wolcott Library, Solo Exhibit, Litchfield, CT, August 2004.

Awards

Purchase of Five Limited Edition Photographs for Art in Public Spaces, State of Connecticut,Public Art Collection, Litchfield Judicial District Courthouse at Torrington, CT. 

Ferguson, Sherr, Rea Awards $500 Second Prize,, Photography, Washington Art Association,  Juried Group Exhibit, Members’ Show, Washington Depot, CT, March 2025, Jane Eckert,  Juror. 

“Water- An Art Contest and Exhibit Celebrating Water,” $5000 First Prize for “Innisfree Waterfall,” at Indian Mountain School, Lakeville, CT, February 2018. Sandra Boynton, Agnes Gund, Craig F. Starr, Jurors. 

38th Annual Spring Contest, Finalist, Photographer’s Forum, for “Bereft Tree, Plunge Pool,” 2018. 

38th Annual Spring Contest, Finalist, Photographer’s Forum, for “Ali, Hudson, NY,” 2017

Education

Master of Fine Arts, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1989. 

Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1982.

Additional Study: 

Maine College of Art, June 2014.

Study with Infrared Photographer Laurie Klein, Spring 2014. 

Vermont Studio Center, August 1986. 

Cleveland Institute of Art, Summer Program in Lacoste, France, 1985. 

Parsons School of Design, Summer Program in Paris and Tuscany, 1984.

Public Speaking: 

“A Fragile Beauty,” Artist’s Talk concurrent with photography exhibit at Norfolk Library, Norfolk, CT, September 2026.