Tidal Rhythms

The images in Tidal Rhythms were taken during 2007-2014 on a variety of beaches located along the Northern California and Oregon coasts. These beaches are notable for their relative isolation, and stark uplifted and eroded rocks, all set against a backdrop of richly foliated coastal cliffs.

As the Pacific Ocean waters recede, for a few hours another world is revealed: teeming with ancient life forms, clinging to rocks, finding nourishment before the ocean waters return. The primitive flora and fauna together create transient landscapes whose complex patterns somehow find resonance with what humans perceive as beauty.

As an astronomer, I am compelled to seek patterns and to understand their origin. As an artist, I aspire to evoke in my images what Steinbeck felt so powerfully: “All things are one thing and that one thing is all things – plankton, a shimmering phosphorescence on the sea and the spinning planets and an expanding universe, all bound together by the elastic string of time. It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again.” Learn more about the forthcoming book created from this portfolio.