That was not immediately clear to me when I first moved to Louisiana. In fact, I was pretty leery of the swamp. It seemed oppressive, with strange smells and spikey plants and strangling vines and danger underfoot–such a contrast to the cathedral-like forests of the Pennsylvania ridges I left behind to move here.

But I have never been one to cower indoors for too long, so gradually I ventured out and began to explore, and gradually I came to appreciate the beauties of the swamp. It thus makes me very happy that some of my images of the swamp have been well received in art venues around the country.

I shot Cathédrale de Cypres from my kayak on Black Bayou Lake NWR in the spring of 2024. It has been very well received by art show jurors, having been invited into 4 exhibitions before the end of the year. I haven’t counted up this year yet, but I’m pretty sure it has added at least that many more it its resumé.

It is currently in “A Sense of Place 2025” at the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, 506 Telfair St., Augusta, GA. The show will end October 10.

Likewise, Boudoir for a Beast was captured from a boat, but in this case, a swamp tour john boat on Lake Martin near Breaux Bridge. That was in late 2021, and in 2022, the image debuted and won First Place in a special category for “wild things among native plants” in the Wild Ones native plant society’s national photo competition. Yay!

Since then, Boudoir has been in a number of exhibitions and is currently in “Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!” an online show sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Arts & Cultural Center in Encino, CA. You can see the show here until October 31, 2025.