I am delighted to introduce my new book, Nature Versus the Built World!
The book explores my photographs of castles and mansions, residences, commercial and farming buildings, industrial and military facilities, machines, and infrastructure around the world. Some subjects are more or less pristine, but a closer look reveals signs and results of neglect, war, financial factors, family matters, and, in general, a lack of ongoing maintenance. Even consider Bruhl Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that is beautiful but shows signs of finish carpentry joints failing. In each chapter and with each subject in this book, you will enjoy artistry in what people have created and what remains, learn a bit about it and its heritage, and see Nature’s efforts to take back what was hers. Nature uses forces like physics, botany, wind, heat and cold, water intrusion and decay, gravity, oxidation, the efforts of insects and other animals, and so on that compete to reclaim the order and control that we had sought. Part of what fascinates me is that she is heartless...almost "mechanical" and has no intention. Isn’t that a fascinating assertion…that Nature is somewhat robotic!? For example, she didn’t “care”, about the passengers and crew of the RMS Titanic or the people of Honshu, Japan who faced a tsunami in April of 2026. She has been at work for 4.5 billion years, whereas our Built World has only existed for maybe 40,000 years and engineering has only existed for around 5,000. We abandon for many reasons, and that abandonment is easy competition for Nature. Photographs are silent, but they transport us instantly into spaces that make us feel… curiosity, awe, warmth, cold, excitement, wonder, sadness, and so very many other emotions. They do so with light, color, composition, and intriguing subjects, perspectives, and storytelling. Abandonment in the Built World is unique among photographic genres. For example, you may see a wild animal prowling (wildlife photography) through a formerly inhabited building or a child’s toy (product photography) with fading primary colors and missing pieces laying on the floor of a ramshackle home. They are not necessarily “beautiful” in the classical sense like a bride lovingly awaiting her groom as he walks down the aisle toward her (wedding photography), or a freshly polished, pristine antique car glistening in the sun (automotive photography). But they are displaying Nature’s “choices” and an innate beauty. In Nature Versus the Built World, I hope that you will enjoy the images and their stories that I have captured in my worldwide travels.
