“And this is why we need art more than ever now, because artists make us think deeply about form. Qualities like light and color, mass and volume, composition and line, shape our perception of how the parts relate to the whole. They influence our understanding of content. And they invite thinking about the relationship of representation and reality.” —Grace Elizabeth Hale, Photography as History in the U.S. South

View fullsize

I wondered how there could possibly be another photograph to make in this place I’ve lived my whole life. I come back to this place that grounds me. I am rooted in the geography and community of rural Virginia. Even as my home is slowly surrounded by development and traffic and sprawling growth, I return to the country, giving my attention, my presence and my affection to this place. I make time to pull the car over and yield to the beauty I see. Cars rush by, hurrying somewhere. But I circle back again and again.