This work is a visual iteration of a morning pages project, a record of impressions in conversation with the forest near my home in western Massachusetts. In contrast to the meticulously arranged still lifes I create in the studio from foraged materials, these images are guided by attention rather than control. Made as I move through a familiar forest loop, the process is rooted in presence and exchange, yet open to chance and spontaneity. Each image becomes an act of collaboration with the more-than-human world and an exploration of photography’s ability to reveal what lies just beyond perception.
The work extends my ongoing exploration of time, memory, and connection to place—how repeated encounters with a landscape can accumulate meaning and mark subtle transformations. Through these photographs, I consider how perception itself becomes a record of both passage and presence.
Inquiries: shelley@shelleykirkwood.com