The Secret Space of Tides (20 images)

Artist Statement

The water has quietly left again......
If you had asked me five years ago if I would ever take photographs of silt and mud, one could imagine my answer. Who hasn't Looked across low tide's barren mud flats and not been inspired to break out their camera!
This project was born one day with two recently minted pilots eager to be in the air. We launched our craft skyward in the glowing afternoon light, and headed west out over the receding tides...
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Artist Statement

The water has quietly left again......
If you had asked me five years ago if I would ever take photographs of silt and mud, one could imagine my answer. Who hasn't Looked across low tide's barren mud flats and not been inspired to break out their camera!
This project was born one day with two recently minted pilots eager to be in the air. We launched our craft skyward in the glowing afternoon light, and headed west out over the receding tides of Humboldt Bay. While climbing and turning with our newly found freedom, the bay's water was quietly slipping out to sea again. A faded perfect circle carved in the silt, now visible, was tracing the edible story of harvesting oysters. Bright green algae fluoresced electric green as its last moisture was being withdrawn. Sandpipers quietly stamped lines across growing islands of silt. Our new perspective had begun to reveal something amazing.
There have been many photographic missions since that day, as I began in earnest to record these images. I have tried to thread the needle between abstraction and reality. Abstraction; in that I am interested in exploring the visual mysteries created by centuries of change yet tempered by eons of repetition.
I am also interested in describing some of the spirit and power of this unique place. I am often times reminded of the Wiyot Tribe who's ancestors ranged over the entire Bay's waters and inlets using canoes made from redwood logs. Our sometimes turbulent human forces have changed the bay forever. In contrast I hope these images soak with a certain calmness that comes from seeing nature's quiet patients yet undeniable power of repletion and regeneration as she draws and redraws her palette.
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