The Tides of Nature and History Meet

The north end of Roanoke Island, within the borders of the Town of Manteo, North Carolina, offers for me the most compelling location I’ve yet found on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  It’s a largely secluded spot, though visitors occasionally park in the lot to walk or relax the beach (though one needs to watch out for the snakes).  I’m intrigued, and drawn back to the location, by the interplay between history and nature here.  In the water close to sure, as well along the beach are the remains of a dying forest.  The land has eroded and the trees have largely perished.  It is an on-going process down here, as it is in many places.

This is an historic location from the human perspective as well.  An important American Civil War battle took off and on shore here, a battle to control the sounds along the eastern coast of North Carolina.  The Union took the prize.  Roanoke Island came under Federal control.  As a result, near this location there was once a “Freedman’s Colony,” a refuge for escaped slaves from the mainland. It’s a long and possible dangerous journey across Croatan Sound, which you can see here.  It must have seen far more dangerous then.  And of course, this is near to Fort Raleigh, the location of the first English landing in the New World, one that did not go well.  The “Lost Colony” was the result. Now, it is quiet, except of the storms that blow in from the west.

More to come.

Upcoming Exhibition at the Griffin Museum of Photography

I’m happy to share with you that I’ll be participating in the upcoming Atelier 21 Exhibition at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts.  This is a group show including a variety of imagery from a group of very strong photographers.  The exhibition opens on Wednesday, March 4 and the formal opening is on Thursday evening, March 5.  Here’s the information.

If you’d like some more detailed information, the web site for the exhibition can be found here.  My selection is titled “Spirituality and a Sense of Place:  The Quabbin Wilderness.”

I want to thank Meg Birnbaum and Amy Rindskopf for their great work in making this happen. If you haven’t been to the Griffin Museum of Photography, it is a real gem.  (And, it’s free!  Closed on Monday, however.)

Ron Rosenstock Multi-Media

I am a huge fan of fine art and nature multi-media and have experimented with it a bit here.  Nature speaks to us on multiple channels.  When you’re out in the world you don’t just see.  Experience encompasses what we hear and feel as well.  All that being said, I think good multi-media is hard to pull off.  It is easy to go too long, too short, too everything, and lose the viewer.

I have mentioned Ron Rosenstock’s work here before as well.  He is one of our finest and most productive fine art photographers.  I’m very grateful for his support the last few years.  Ron’s work, particularly his books, often try to capture the more complex feel of his appreciation of nature through the use of accompanying poetry.  He recently alerted me to a new multi-media work, inspired by his book, The Light Within, in which his imagery is accompanied by a new musical composition from Eugene Skeef, a noted South African composer.  In addition, the piece contains haiku by Gabriel Rosenstock (no relation I gather) with whom Ron has collaborated in the past.  Too often, multi-media pieces though struggle and seem to take forever.  For me, this one just flies by. Enjoy.