This series of photographs emerged from a summer excursion at dawn with my father, exploring Badlands National Park in western South Dakota. The day began with a pale pink sunrise cascading across eroded earth and some of the park’s resident bighorn sheep, later giving way to a bright blue sky. I have always had a robust respect and enjoyment for the great outdoors, both from growing up in the house of an experienced trapper and from working in a state park myself during my undergraduate days; it’s something I’ve really bonded with my father over in recent years.

In the Badlands, time takes on an orphic quality, seemingly standing still amidst the visual erosion of the landscape. Layers of earth and our history expose themselves and absorb the colors of the sky, inviting the viewer to study the nuance of each echelon. Old memories erode and new ones take their place, leaving new forms that are never the same twice.