Our Narratives
Encounters
A space dedicated to the quiet, unhurried experience of truly looking at something: the patience it takes, the unexpected connection that follows, the way a work of art can open a world that usually unfolds beyond our awareness.
Underground waterfall · Burren karst, Ireland · © Max Wisshak
Where the Cave Comes Alive
We are wading through an underground stream in Ireland’s Burren karst, the water reaching our knees. The cold doesn’t bother us. We’re wearing wetsuits beneath our caving coveralls. The water is clear but reddish brown, coloured by humic acids from the upland bog that feeds the stream. The dark grey, almost black...
Mediterranean mantises · Nicosia, Cyprus · © Hasan Baglar
Silhouettes in the Summer Light
In the summer heat of Cyprus, the alfalfa fields around Nicosia are full of life: butterflies, insects, and mantises hidden so well they are almost invisible. For more than a decade, Hasan Baglar has returned to these fields, waiting for the rare moment a mantis rises up, wings flared and arms held high, in a pose that looks...
Glacier Walk · Iceland · © Saumya Kesurvala
Among Mountains and Glaciers
It was late February, winter's final lap before it annually withdraws itself from this land of fire and ice. Like its landscapes, Icelandic winters are just as dramatic and extreme. Some days it would feel as if you were walking in a pristine paradise and other days as if both the sky and the land wish to brutally devour you by...
Stoat · Athose, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France · © Jose Manuel Grandío
Twist and Jump
The stoat in the photograph above is doing what scientists call dancing. They have witnessed stoats (Mustela erminea) engaging in similar displays on many occasions, although opinions are divided about what motivates the leaps and twists. Sometimes the dances are performed in front of a rabbit or a large bird in a seeming...
Osprey sculpture in its final stages · Marietta, Georgia, USA · © Chris Wilson
Osprey: Research, Inspiration, Sculpting, and Carving
Every wildlife sculpture begins long before I touch a block of wood. It begins with watching.
About a year ago, one of my collectors asked whether I could carve his favorite bird, an osprey. From his home overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, he watched these remarkable birds catch fish almost every day...
Heterotrichia versicolor · Eldorado National Forest, Sierra Nevada, California, USA · © Timothy Boomer
So Much Beauty in So Little Space
When a friend introduced me to the fascinating world of slime molds, I was instantly captivated. I wanted to photograph as many species as I could. During the rainy season, they are not difficult to find in local woodlands or even my own backyard. But where I live in California's East Bay, the rains never last long...