Gallery 01 of 05
Edge of Light
The minutes when day turns over: first light, last light, and the brief glow after a storm.
Geyser at First LightYellowstone National Park, WyomingSteam climbs into a sunrise sky heavy with a coming storm, driven by heat from a magma reservoir just a few miles beneath the boardwalk. Deep in the geyser’s plumbing, water sits far past boiling, held liquid by the weight above it until the pressure finally lets go.Geyser at First LightYellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Mineral VeinsYellowstone National Park, WyomingRust and silver channels carry the last light: orange mats of heat-loving microbes over pale silica the springs lay down grain by grain. Each kind of microbe thrives in its own narrow range of temperature, so every band of color is a thermometer you can read from the trail.Mineral VeinsYellowstone National Park, Wyoming
The Alley to the SeaMykonos, GreeceA narrow lane of whitewash, and at its end, the sun. Follow it far enough and you reach Little Venice, where sea captains once built their houses so close to the water that the waves still knock at their doors.The Alley to the SeaMykonos, Greece
Windmills and the Setting SunMykonos, GreeceWaves wash over the stones as the sun drops into the Aegean. The mills on the hill have stood watch since the height of the Venetian Empire, when their sails turned the north wind into bread. Now they only gather the evening light.Windmills and the Setting SunMykonos, Greece
Blue Hour BoardwalkYellowstone National Park, WyomingTaken at the crack of dawn, around 4:30, in air so cold it stung. Ice glazed the boardwalk, and I slipped just before this frame. It felt otherworldly.Blue Hour BoardwalkYellowstone National Park, Wyoming
The Sun in the GroundYellowstone National Park, WyomingStanding at the edge of this pool, I felt as if I were staring back at the sun, lodged in the ground: a source of great energy and power.The Sun in the GroundYellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Steam FieldYellowstone National Park, WyomingDozens of vents breathing at once under a heavy sky, one small corner of a park that holds roughly half the world’s geysers. Each vent is a leak in the same plumbing, where rain and snowmelt sink through cracks, meet the heat below, and rush back up as steam.Steam FieldYellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Morning Fog on the LakeLos Angeles, CaliforniaMist lifting off still water beneath an overhanging tree. For a few minutes at dawn the lake breathes out the warmth of yesterday, and the world goes soft and quiet, as if it hasn’t quite decided to wake.Morning Fog on the LakeLos Angeles, California
Wheels in the PalousePalouse, WashingtonA fence of old iron wheels, the low sun caught in one of its rims. Each one rolled these hills once, to market, to church, to harvest. Now they stand shoulder to shoulder at the field’s edge, finished with going anywhere.Wheels in the PalousePalouse, Washington
Kato MiliMykonos, GreeceFour windmills in silhouette, their spokes drawn against a pastel sky. Once they wore canvas and ground the island’s grain; now they stand bare-armed on the ridge, keeping faith with a wind that no longer needs them.Kato MiliMykonos, Greece
The Fisherman and the BridgeSan Diego, CaliforniaA lone angler at sunrise, the bridge stretched across the bay behind him. Since 1969 its long curve has carried the city’s hurry overhead, while down here the only schedule is the tide.The Fisherman and the BridgeSan Diego, California
DepartureAmsterdam, NetherlandsAn orange sky over the gates, the kind that makes you glad your seat is by the window. Where planes now rise, a stormy lake once swallowed ships. Tonight there is only the slow burn of the horizon and the pull of somewhere else.DepartureAmsterdam, Netherlands