This is the first chapter of a long-term project which is focused on the ways Humans interact with, are shaped by, and we ourselves shape the environment around us. Walking Portraits examines our most natural roots and the concept of nature, which is largely a white colonialist notion. The three sections of Walking Portraits are a walk though the Miller Farm Wetland Conservancy in Rock County Wisconsin, at the confluence of the Yahara and Rock Rivers. Trees is a series of portraits of trees at various stages of life, beginning at the "working prime" and ending with rotting wood-- both ends provide to different organisms. Conservancy documents the human touch within the boundaries, and that our interposition with nature is inextricable. Finally the journey ends with a walk along the waterways which have been subject to human use, fascination, and life itself for time immemorial. All of the images in this series were taken on land which was forcefully stolen from the Ho Chunk Nation by the United States government under threat of violence and genocide. I acknowledge that I am a guest on this land, and am privileged to be able to walk and live here.
