In Search of Eden

In 1998, searching for an Eden of my own, I moved to a small coastal town in Mississippi. This search brought my work full circle and back to the landscape of my native South, which was the subject of my first photographic series in the early 1980's . This was a time of rediscovery for me, a time of reconnecting with the land that drew me on a journey of the senses along the Gulf of Mexico. The coastlines along the Gulf have a lushness and sensuality unlike any other landscape. There is a sense of mystery and isolation, yet a beautiful and peaceful quality to the landscape. This region is unmistakably marked with a spirit of its own. Explorers, historians, writers, artists and musicians have been influenced by this region and by man's search for a place that is not only a physical one but one of myth and transcendence; a search for Eden. The images from this series were places I saw almost every day. They are from my garden, the end of the block, around the corner, or a short drive away-images that we may not take the time to notice but by chance. Then an early morning fog, a storm moving in or the dappling of the last light of fall moving through the woods isolate the image and lead us to view the mystery of forms. The atmosphere transforms these very ordinary subjects into something quite extraordinary. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina struck the coast destroying everything in its path. In a matter of hours our Eden, as we knew it , was gone and now we were set adrift.