My Top 12 Photographs Of 2017

Alignment XXXIII

Alignment XXXIII

Alignment XXX

Alignment XXX

Alignment XLIII

Alignment XLIII

Alignment XXXI

Alignment XXXI

Alignment XXXII

Alignment XXXII

Alignment XXXVI

Alignment XXXVI

Interference I

Interference

Interference III

Interference

LandInLand XIII

Land In Land

LandInLand XXV

Land In Land

20170206_ANT_yalourislands-_190-Edit

Antarctica

20170207_ANT_dancoisland-_170-Pano-Edit

Antarctica

This is a selection of my top 12 images of 2017. This selection doesn’t reflect sales, publication, or activities on the web. It simply reflects my opinion. Click on the titles to find out more about each image.

Geography

The locations include Antarctica, New Zealand, Valley Of Fire, Joshua Tree, Obsidian Dome, Death Valley, and Maine.

Process

2017 marks the first year where I produced series of finished works (rather than sketches) with my iPhone, sometimes on location seconds after making exposures. While chasing one series Land In Land (combining macro abstract details with the larger landscapes they were drawn from) another series emerged Interference (combining wave patterns found in dunes into even more complex abstractions).

Concepts

I intensified my efforts to create flatter horizonless abstractions with strong emotionally expressive qualities. Drawn elements successfully found their ways into many of them. The qualities of earth art are even more strongly felt.

Magic Moment

There were truly sublime moments in Antarctica, especially during a few crystal clear days. Still, there were so many moments where I felt deeply moved by and connected to all of these landscapes, and that transformative energy is the true magic. The magic happens inside.

It was a very productive year; more than 75 new works released; more than 150 new studies made; and my first serious forays into making related sculptures. (Stay tuned.)

It’s challenging to choose so few images from so many – but it’s insightful. Try selecting your own top 12 images. Try selecting the top 12 images of your favorite artist(s).

View more of my Annual Top 12 Selections here.

View more images in my ebooks here.

View my full Works here.

View my Series videos here.

View new images in my newsletter Collectors Alert.

New Image – Inhalation VI


The patterns found in a majority of my images were created by nature. Yet the surfaces in these pictures are not untouched by me. I have influenced them all: by selection of moment; by choice of perspective; by use of tool; by inclusion and exclusion with the picture frame; by further eliminations from and additions to what remains within the picture frame; by changing proportion; by orchestrating color; by creating symmetries; etc. I consider all of these opportunities to collaborate with the hand of nature.
With growing frequency, traces of my physical presence are displayed in my images. Sometimes I set things on fire. Sometimes, I push and pull smoke with my breath. Sometimes, I toss ash in the air. At other times, I create ripples in water. In this case, the circles and trails in the receding foam were created by placing my feet in the pulsing surf.
I prefer that the marks I make in nature remain ephemeral. In this way, the next person who experiences the same location I was in, is free to experience it in their own ways. If we’re lucky, we may even be able to compare our experiences. The only durable mark I leave in my process is the photograph itself.
The impulse to acknowledge my involvement in every moment and create something beautiful from it, has been growing stronger and stronger within me.
View / read more here.