Humus II

Humus II continues an ongoing dialogue shaped by my daily walks through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the landscapes surrounding Santa Fe, New Mexico. These photographs arise from an intimate attentiveness to place—ground, horizon, and the spaces in between—where deep time and lived time quietly converge. In looking closely at what lies beneath my feet and just beyond my line of sight, I enter a visual conversation with the land itself,  the ancientness  and the affection for this moment.

Dōgen reminds us, “If you cannot find the truth where you are, where do you expect to find it?” This question underpins the work. In the act of walking and looking, truth reveals itself not elsewhere, but precisely here—underfoot, beside me, and beyond my immediate gaze.

In the twenty-first century, heightened awareness of environmental conditions is unavoidable; the state of the land reflects the emotional and climatic weather of our times. Time feels increasingly compressed, leaving little room for stillness, contemplation, or listening. My work resists that compression. Through these images, I seek to reintroduce slowness and spaciousness—an invitation to pause and to notice what is already present.

Bashō offers guidance in this practice: “Learn how to listen as things speak for themselves.” Nature, in this sense, is a teacher without agenda. By softening my relationship to time, I enter into a receptive exchange with the landscape—one that reveals layers upon layers, worlds nestled within worlds.

As a Buddhist practitioner, recognizing  impermanence is freedom, because all phenomena is changing.  Humus II reflects this understanding: a quiet acknowledgment of transience, and the quiet miracle of perception itself—of being here, now, as a human being.