Environmental Statement

“In wildness is the preservation of the world.” - Thoreau

The most important goal of any ethical nature photographer, or any human visiting the wild, should be the consistent practice of sound environmental stewardship.

While I can’t claim to be perfect in this department, I do try my best to always leave places better than how I found them. I believe I achieve this in many simple ways, such as packing out litter, reporting vandalism, and avoiding taking the same route each time I venture off trail.

I enjoy learning how I can become a better human when I hike and camp - kind of like my overall approach to photography, and life in general for that matter. In the spirit of learning, I try to keep an open mind so I can learn about new ways to support the places I love. Often, creating new habits requires a degree of “unlearning” bad ones (or, more often, neutral ones that could have been done in more helpful ways). Over the years I have certainly changed some of my hiking and camping practices in ways that are easier on the beautiful land I deeply value.

The more I learn, and the more I photograph nature, the more I appreciate its quieter, unsung beauty that easily goes unnoticed. While important and useful for my art-making, my camera is secondary to my appreciation of (and care for) the natural spaces I both cherish and call home. Before I venture out, I often remind myself of seven simple, easy-to-remember principles…