Stephanie JohnsonStephanie Johnson
Stephanie Johnson
(United States)

www.stephjohnphoto.com
www.facebook.com/stephjohnphoto
www.instagram.com/stephjohnphoto

Indefinitely Wild and Unfathomable

"All good things are wild and free."
~ Henry David Thoreau

The natural world is where I feel most connected to the energetic flow that runs through all things, and this intimate connection has long been a key part of my journey to create ICM images that ask the viewer to connect more deeply themselves to the essence of nature.  I love the wildness of nature, and I feel a sense of freedom there that cannot be found anywhere else.  It is where my inner landscape flows seamlessly with the outer landscape, as I live more fully and find eternity in the moment.

Using Eliot Porter's book Intimate Landscapes as inspiration, I spent the past few weeks focusing on microcosms of the natural world, rather than on grander landscapes.  As I immersed myself with camera in worlds contained within just a few feet from the end of the lens, my eyes were opened to things I normally would not even have noticed...and these worlds became a canvas to my imagination.

In the process of working through this project, I am reminded once again that we need the wilderness.  Our souls long for wild places.  As Edward Abbey writes in Desert Solitaire, "Wilderness is...a necessity of the human spirit." 

This series of images is my attempt evoke this connection, in the hope that, by seeing the essence of these intimate landscapes, a meaningful and purposeful response for defending the natural world will be elicited. 

"The idea of wilderness needs no defense.  It only needs defenders."
~ Edward Abbey


Original Inspiration


Final Series

Click or Tap Any of the Images on this Page to View Larger


The Tonic of Wildness

"We need the tonic of wildness...At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable.  We can never have enough of nature."

~ Henry David Thoreau

Refrains of Nature

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”

~ Rachel Carson

 

 

Wild Things

"There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot."

~ Aldo Leopold

A Ferocious Intoxication

“Wilderness is a ferocious intoxication which sweeps over your senses with rinsing vitality, leaving you stripped to the vivid, your senses rubbed until they shine. It is an untouched place which touches you deeply and its aftermath - when landscape becomes innerscape - leaves you elated, awed and changed utterly."

~ Jay Griffiths

 

 

Infinitely Wild

“The power of imagination makes us infinite.”

~ John Muir

 

 

Wild Preservation

"In wildness is the preservation of the world."

~ Henry David Thoreau

 

 

Wonder and Humility

“It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility."

~ Rachel Carson

 

 

Earth Delights

“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”

~ Khalil Gibran

 

Return to the ICMPhotoMag Beginnings Workshop Main Exhibition Page


Inspired by the Beginnings Workshops, Kaisa, Morag, and Stephanie are in the process of building a collaborative, continuous learning membership community, with a planned launch date of June 1st. 

This new initiative will bring many of the features of the 5-week intensive workshops to a collaborative, continuous learning community...one which offers an ongoing, rolling, monthly workshop-style environment, with new themes, content, live sessions, guest photographers, and much more each month....all with the goal of helping you grow in your ICM photography and inspiring you to tap more deeply into your own creativity...in a supportive, encouraging, safe atmosphere that will help nurture your artistic vision.

If you are interested in signing up to receive updates about membership community pre-launch activities, as well as to be notified first when the membership community is ready to open its doors and go live, please visit the link below and click the red button to send us an email.

Learn More About the ICMPhotoMag Membership Community