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Decagon Gallery
Patterns in the Wild
Welcome to Patterns in the Wild, an exhibition that celebrates the intricate and mesmerizing designs found in the natural world. Here, the beauty of the untamed landscapes, the quiet rhythm of nature, and the complex systems that govern the wild are captured through the lens of contemporary photographers. Each image presents a unique perspective, whether it’s the delicate symmetry of a leaf, the chaotic energy of a storm, or the serene order of a distant mountain range. These works invite us to pause and look closer, to appreciate the often-overlooked patterns that sustain the environment around us.
The photographs you will experience here not only reflect nature's boundless creativity but also challenge us to see beyond the obvious. They remind us that every branch, every stone, every blade of grass carries a story—a visual narrative that is as captivating as it is essential to our understanding of the world. We hope this exhibition sparks a sense of wonder, admiration, and connection to the wild spaces that shape our planet.
Please take your time, engage with the works, and allow yourself to be drawn into the intricate patterns that surround us, both in the wild and within ourselves.
A Note from the Juror:
Thank you for allowing me to engage with such a powerful collection of images. I spent several days reviewing each submission multiple times, and a clear theme emerged in my selections.
My curation was guided by a central principle: a successful image transcends its subject. While each photograph contained a pattern, I was most captivated by those that used composition to masterfully capture and interpret it. I looked for the photographer's artistic intention—their ability to use framing, perspective, and focus to transform a rare or common sight into a singular, significant statement.
Many of the images that stood out implemented a full-frame approach, immersing the viewer in the intricate texture or repeating motif and creating a palpable rhythm and sense of presence. Ultimately, I was drawn to the photographs that celebrated not just the pattern itself, but the intentional arrangement and visual complexity behind it. The chosen images are not just about what patterns were observed, but what the artist did to elevate the subject and evoke a response, while enriching and enlightening us.
Jurying is inevitably a subjective task, and I want to acknowledge that compelling images were omitted with regret. I'm grateful to each of you who entered and shared your visions.
Wendi Schneider
First Place
Second Place
Karen Safer
LaRochelle Patterns
Playa del Rey, CA
I am a photographic artist, poet, native Angelino given camera & crayons at 3, exposed to California motifs, master’s art degree, career in design/architecture, 580+ exhibits, 500+ awards, traveled 233+ territories, born to scholarly-minded parents who encouraged art, education and world travel. I began taking pictures in youth, studied painting and developed black & white photos in college. A student of the universe from Assyria to Vermeer - Atget to Cindy Sherman; I embrace the everything, drink in color but venerate black and white. I am a “romantic soul” with intellectual cravings now living in a Digital World.
Honored with ReFocus, Exposure One, Julia Margaret Cameron, Spider, Botticelli Intern Prize, etc.; featured in Dodho, LENS, Women United, ArtForum, etc.; continue exhibits in Athens, Budapest, Barcelona, Paris, London, Glasgow, Rome, Dubai, Venice, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, etc. from California to NY, member of IAA-USA, LA Art Association, LA Center for Photography, LACMA, etc.
I say a photographer has the whole world big or small to capture.
Playa del Rey, CA
I am a photographic artist, poet, native Angelino given camera & crayons at 3, exposed to California motifs, master’s art degree, career in design/architecture, 580+ exhibits, 500+ awards, traveled 233+ territories, born to scholarly-minded parents who encouraged art, education and world travel. I began taking pictures in youth, studied painting and developed black & white photos in college. A student of the universe from Assyria to Vermeer - Atget to Cindy Sherman; I embrace the everything, drink in color but venerate black and white. I am a “romantic soul” with intellectual cravings now living in a Digital World.
Honored with ReFocus, Exposure One, Julia Margaret Cameron, Spider, Botticelli Intern Prize, etc.; featured in Dodho, LENS, Women United, ArtForum, etc.; continue exhibits in Athens, Budapest, Barcelona, Paris, London, Glasgow, Rome, Dubai, Venice, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, etc. from California to NY, member of IAA-USA, LA Art Association, LA Center for Photography, LACMA, etc.
I say a photographer has the whole world big or small to capture.
Roger Archibald
Crop Circles
Quincy, MA
I like to think that my photography is simply an illustration of my life.
In the fifty years or so that I’ve been serious about it, I’ve pretty much always been accompanied by a camera wherever I go, now especially true in the era of mobile phone cameras.
I first became intrigued by the possibility in pictures as an enlisted sailor in the U.S. Navy assigned to an aircraft carrier serving in southeast Asia, then later during shore duty in Vietnam. Photographs seemed the best medium to explain to people back home what I was experiencing overseas, and also a means of creating visual notes that I could refer back to down the road.
Once out of the service, I pursued the same interest back in college on the GI Bill, where I served as photo editor of the student newspaper. Later on, during years of struggling to build freelance success, I worked nights in a photo lab developing and proofing film, while trying to land photo assignments during the day.
Eventually I came to realize that it was the things that I enjoyed most doing that I enjoyed most photographing, at which point I embarked on a bit more adventurous career serving with U.S, Govt. land management agencies as both a park ranger and a wildland firefighter, and then later as a seaman on seagoing sailing vessels.
I’ve tried to reflect that background in the choice of images I’m submitting here.
Quincy, MA
I like to think that my photography is simply an illustration of my life.
In the fifty years or so that I’ve been serious about it, I’ve pretty much always been accompanied by a camera wherever I go, now especially true in the era of mobile phone cameras.
I first became intrigued by the possibility in pictures as an enlisted sailor in the U.S. Navy assigned to an aircraft carrier serving in southeast Asia, then later during shore duty in Vietnam. Photographs seemed the best medium to explain to people back home what I was experiencing overseas, and also a means of creating visual notes that I could refer back to down the road.
Once out of the service, I pursued the same interest back in college on the GI Bill, where I served as photo editor of the student newspaper. Later on, during years of struggling to build freelance success, I worked nights in a photo lab developing and proofing film, while trying to land photo assignments during the day.
Eventually I came to realize that it was the things that I enjoyed most doing that I enjoyed most photographing, at which point I embarked on a bit more adventurous career serving with U.S, Govt. land management agencies as both a park ranger and a wildland firefighter, and then later as a seaman on seagoing sailing vessels.
I’ve tried to reflect that background in the choice of images I’m submitting here.
Rainer Mueller Hilmer
Nature Design
Puerto del Rosario, Spain
I've lived on the island of Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands, since 1985. On my many walks along the beach, I've found and photographed all these fantastic patterns and designs. They change every time with the ebb and flow of the tide and are a natural design.
Puerto del Rosario, Spain
I've lived on the island of Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands, since 1985. On my many walks along the beach, I've found and photographed all these fantastic patterns and designs. They change every time with the ebb and flow of the tide and are a natural design.
Mary Hogan
Frosted
Falls Mills, VA
I am a photographer and encaustic artist residing in Southwest Virginia. For almost 50 years, I’ve been capturing the world around me through my lens. While photography has always been a passionate hobby, retirement now allows me to fully dedicate myself to my art. My photographic journey began with black and white film, developing my own prints in the darkroom. I now work exclusively with digital photography and editing tools. To me, photography is all about conveying mood through light and texture.
Falls Mills, VA
I am a photographer and encaustic artist residing in Southwest Virginia. For almost 50 years, I’ve been capturing the world around me through my lens. While photography has always been a passionate hobby, retirement now allows me to fully dedicate myself to my art. My photographic journey began with black and white film, developing my own prints in the darkroom. I now work exclusively with digital photography and editing tools. To me, photography is all about conveying mood through light and texture.
Hao-Long Hsu
Pure Art On The Wall
Tainan, Taiwan
Lecturer/ Department of Spatial Design/ Kun Shan University/ Taiwan.
I majored in architecture at university, through the inspiration of professors, we have been trying to use the theory of emotion and art architecture to see how architecture can be as dynamic and emotional as art, can inspire people's hearts, touch people’s soul and stimulate imagination. Over the past 30 years, I have traveled to cities around the world to learn about beautiful art and architectural creations through travel. When I see scenes that surprise and move me,
Tainan, Taiwan
Lecturer/ Department of Spatial Design/ Kun Shan University/ Taiwan.
I majored in architecture at university, through the inspiration of professors, we have been trying to use the theory of emotion and art architecture to see how architecture can be as dynamic and emotional as art, can inspire people's hearts, touch people’s soul and stimulate imagination. Over the past 30 years, I have traveled to cities around the world to learn about beautiful art and architectural creations through travel. When I see scenes that surprise and move me,
Robb Reece
Sandhill Cranes in Flight
Grand Junction, CO
My "Flight Patterns" series is a personal chronophotography project showing the abstract beauty that bird flight displays, but in a way the human eye will never experience live. It is capturing each birds flight using the sky as a canvas and each flight pattern creates the natural art. My inspiration comes from the flow of each species and their flight, as they naturally "paint" in the sky. My objective is to capture the birds flying above me at beautiful locations. The soaring, gliding and wing movements show patterns unseen to the naked eye until captured with this method. I use the historical beginnings of motion capture, but use modern technology to show dynamic speed, movement and motion.
Essentially using an "old school" technique with modern "tools". The final images are nature-based shots referencing the living movement, complexity and beauty of bird flight.
My creative work involves spontaneity, pre-planning, cooperation from mother nature and some luck. Nature always leads and dictates the final, finished piece. There's an aspect of "not knowing" and openness that occurs when I'm on location, and I've learned to be patient and let the opportunity of timing reveal itself at the correct time.
These projects are abstractions referencing the living, breathing, movement, complexity and beauty where 1000's of frames become one.
Grand Junction, CO
My "Flight Patterns" series is a personal chronophotography project showing the abstract beauty that bird flight displays, but in a way the human eye will never experience live. It is capturing each birds flight using the sky as a canvas and each flight pattern creates the natural art. My inspiration comes from the flow of each species and their flight, as they naturally "paint" in the sky. My objective is to capture the birds flying above me at beautiful locations. The soaring, gliding and wing movements show patterns unseen to the naked eye until captured with this method. I use the historical beginnings of motion capture, but use modern technology to show dynamic speed, movement and motion.
Essentially using an "old school" technique with modern "tools". The final images are nature-based shots referencing the living movement, complexity and beauty of bird flight.
My creative work involves spontaneity, pre-planning, cooperation from mother nature and some luck. Nature always leads and dictates the final, finished piece. There's an aspect of "not knowing" and openness that occurs when I'm on location, and I've learned to be patient and let the opportunity of timing reveal itself at the correct time.
These projects are abstractions referencing the living, breathing, movement, complexity and beauty where 1000's of frames become one.
David Swainson
Uniformity
Portland, OR
David was born in New Zealand and moved to the US in 1980 where he developed an interest in photography. He is mainly a self-taught landscape photographer. Growing up in New Zealand, David was surrounded by the beauty and power of nature and discovered the peacefulness of solitude. Upon retiring, travel and photography became intertwined, and with it the fascination of urban landscapes, the backstreets and the markets and capturing the beauty and contrasts of the local culture.
Portland, OR
David was born in New Zealand and moved to the US in 1980 where he developed an interest in photography. He is mainly a self-taught landscape photographer. Growing up in New Zealand, David was surrounded by the beauty and power of nature and discovered the peacefulness of solitude. Upon retiring, travel and photography became intertwined, and with it the fascination of urban landscapes, the backstreets and the markets and capturing the beauty and contrasts of the local culture.
Kylo-Patrick Hart
Contemporary
Aledo, TX
Photography has been my passion since early childhood. My motivation is to discover and capture the beauty, even when it is not always readily self-evident, that surrounds us continuously in all areas of our everyday lives. I believe the finest images are those that are serious yet playful, aesthetically appealing yet a bit quirky. As both an artist and an admirer, my favorite photographs tend to be ones whose contents speak loudly for themselves — even when it is not immediately clear exactly what they are saying. They seek to inspire their viewers to wrestle with their intriguing contents and, as a result, ponder various aspects of our surrounding world in new and unique ways.
Aledo, TX
Photography has been my passion since early childhood. My motivation is to discover and capture the beauty, even when it is not always readily self-evident, that surrounds us continuously in all areas of our everyday lives. I believe the finest images are those that are serious yet playful, aesthetically appealing yet a bit quirky. As both an artist and an admirer, my favorite photographs tend to be ones whose contents speak loudly for themselves — even when it is not immediately clear exactly what they are saying. They seek to inspire their viewers to wrestle with their intriguing contents and, as a result, ponder various aspects of our surrounding world in new and unique ways.
Tricia Barry Altomare
Ice Castles
Barnstable, MA
I love exploring the world through my camera. My photographs are a reflection of my journeys, both physical and emotional. Nature's incredible diversity, from towering mountains to delicate wildflowers, constantly inspires me.
I strive to create images that are both aesthetically pleasing and emotionally resonant, inviting viewers to share in the wonder and tranquility of the natural world.
Barnstable, MA
I love exploring the world through my camera. My photographs are a reflection of my journeys, both physical and emotional. Nature's incredible diversity, from towering mountains to delicate wildflowers, constantly inspires me.
I strive to create images that are both aesthetically pleasing and emotionally resonant, inviting viewers to share in the wonder and tranquility of the natural world.
Jeff Maysent
Waterfall (Torrey Sandstone)
Solana Beach, CA
Jeff Maysent is a photographer and printmaker from Solana Beach, California. His work, which has been selected for numerous juried exhibitions, can be viewed at jeffmaysentphotography.com.
Solana Beach, CA
Jeff Maysent is a photographer and printmaker from Solana Beach, California. His work, which has been selected for numerous juried exhibitions, can be viewed at jeffmaysentphotography.com.
Steve Borghardt
Ice 8
Bayport, NY
I began exploring digital photography in 2012 and in addition to digital work, I also shoot film using a variety of vintage 35mm, medium format, and large format cameras. I’m also an FAA Part 107 certified UAV (drone) pilot and incorporate aerial photography (both still and video) into my workflow where it’s appropriate.
My nature photography has been featured in publications such as Newsday and other publications, and my commitment to environmental conservation is further reflected in my contributions to local and national organizations.
Bayport, NY
I began exploring digital photography in 2012 and in addition to digital work, I also shoot film using a variety of vintage 35mm, medium format, and large format cameras. I’m also an FAA Part 107 certified UAV (drone) pilot and incorporate aerial photography (both still and video) into my workflow where it’s appropriate.
My nature photography has been featured in publications such as Newsday and other publications, and my commitment to environmental conservation is further reflected in my contributions to local and national organizations.
Justine Crowley
Snow Falling on Benches
New Orleans, LA
I have been using cameras for over forty years to capture the way I see our world. I am fascinated by light, and the way it affects the world around us. I see the way light highlights the small everyday things and the way it can transform an everyday sight into something spectacular. I have had work in shows in across the country and currently have pieces hanging in New Orleans. My last solo show was with Salon Diversions during Dirty Linen Night 2024 on Royal Street in New Orleans. My dog, two cats and I live in New Orleans. I started my journey with a Kodak 110 camera and now shoot with a Canon Mark 6D DSLR, a Hasselblad 500C/M film camera, an iPhone 12 Pro and my father's Yashica Range Finder, the first 35mm I ever used. My latest venture is creating scanograms.
New Orleans, LA
I have been using cameras for over forty years to capture the way I see our world. I am fascinated by light, and the way it affects the world around us. I see the way light highlights the small everyday things and the way it can transform an everyday sight into something spectacular. I have had work in shows in across the country and currently have pieces hanging in New Orleans. My last solo show was with Salon Diversions during Dirty Linen Night 2024 on Royal Street in New Orleans. My dog, two cats and I live in New Orleans. I started my journey with a Kodak 110 camera and now shoot with a Canon Mark 6D DSLR, a Hasselblad 500C/M film camera, an iPhone 12 Pro and my father's Yashica Range Finder, the first 35mm I ever used. My latest venture is creating scanograms.
Grace Farag
Empire of Light (After Magritte)
Grass Valley, CA
I’m a writer and photographer originally from Los Angeles, now based in the mountains of Northern California. In my photographic work, whether I’m I always try to find my way to a deep emotional territory within the frame — and if I can do this by uncovering a fresh perspective or a hidden beauty in an otherwise familiar or mundane scene, so much the better.
Grass Valley, CA
I’m a writer and photographer originally from Los Angeles, now based in the mountains of Northern California. In my photographic work, whether I’m I always try to find my way to a deep emotional territory within the frame — and if I can do this by uncovering a fresh perspective or a hidden beauty in an otherwise familiar or mundane scene, so much the better.
Becky Chapman
Arboreal Wings
Morrison, CO
The Magic is in the details. I am entranced by the smaller elements of Nature. Intimate landscapes require a slow, deep looking to discover those details -- where the Magic lies.
Morrison, CO
The Magic is in the details. I am entranced by the smaller elements of Nature. Intimate landscapes require a slow, deep looking to discover those details -- where the Magic lies.
Roger Archibald
Periwinkle Paths
Quincy, MA
I like to think that my photography is simply an illustration of my life.
In the fifty years or so that I’ve been serious about it, I’ve pretty much always been accompanied by a camera wherever I go, now especially true in the era of mobile phone cameras.
I first became intrigued by the possibility in pictures as an enlisted sailor in the U.S. Navy assigned to an aircraft carrier serving in southeast Asia, then later during shore duty in Vietnam. Photographs seemed the best medium to explain to people back home what I was experiencing overseas, and also a means of creating visual notes that I could refer back to down the road.
Once out of the service, I pursued the same interest back in college on the GI Bill, where I served as photo editor of the student newspaper. Later on, during years of struggling to build freelance success, I worked nights in a photo lab developing and proofing film, while trying to land photo assignments during the day.
Eventually I came to realize that it was the things that I enjoyed most doing that I enjoyed most photographing, at which point I embarked on a bit more adventurous career serving with U.S, Govt. land management agencies as both a park ranger and a wildland firefighter, and then later as a seaman on seagoing sailing vessels.
I’ve tried to reflect that background in the choice of images I’m submitting here.
Quincy, MA
I like to think that my photography is simply an illustration of my life.
In the fifty years or so that I’ve been serious about it, I’ve pretty much always been accompanied by a camera wherever I go, now especially true in the era of mobile phone cameras.
I first became intrigued by the possibility in pictures as an enlisted sailor in the U.S. Navy assigned to an aircraft carrier serving in southeast Asia, then later during shore duty in Vietnam. Photographs seemed the best medium to explain to people back home what I was experiencing overseas, and also a means of creating visual notes that I could refer back to down the road.
Once out of the service, I pursued the same interest back in college on the GI Bill, where I served as photo editor of the student newspaper. Later on, during years of struggling to build freelance success, I worked nights in a photo lab developing and proofing film, while trying to land photo assignments during the day.
Eventually I came to realize that it was the things that I enjoyed most doing that I enjoyed most photographing, at which point I embarked on a bit more adventurous career serving with U.S, Govt. land management agencies as both a park ranger and a wildland firefighter, and then later as a seaman on seagoing sailing vessels.
I’ve tried to reflect that background in the choice of images I’m submitting here.
Dan Hucko
Patterns in Nature-05
Pittsford, NY
Dan Hucko lives in Rochester, NY and grew up on black and white photography - starting 55! years ago when he talked his way into a photographer job on his HS yearbook staff.
He has an Associate degree in Photography and Multimedia from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and a BFA in Photography/Cinema from THE Ohio State University.
Other photo experience:
- Custom color printer - Columbus, OH
- Multi-Image slide presentation photographer, writer, producer, director - Canandaigua, NY.
- Creative Director and Co-Founder, Stanton & Hucko Advertising - Rochester, NY.
- Rochester International Jazz Festival photographer
- Bronze Award Winner in ReFocus B/W International Photo Competition - 2025
"I've also shot weddings, commercial real estate, dance competitions, and portraits. I shoot for the love of it and currently have approximately 35,000 photos in my LIghtroom cloud."
Pittsford, NY
Dan Hucko lives in Rochester, NY and grew up on black and white photography - starting 55! years ago when he talked his way into a photographer job on his HS yearbook staff.
He has an Associate degree in Photography and Multimedia from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and a BFA in Photography/Cinema from THE Ohio State University.
Other photo experience:
- Custom color printer - Columbus, OH
- Multi-Image slide presentation photographer, writer, producer, director - Canandaigua, NY.
- Creative Director and Co-Founder, Stanton & Hucko Advertising - Rochester, NY.
- Rochester International Jazz Festival photographer
- Bronze Award Winner in ReFocus B/W International Photo Competition - 2025
"I've also shot weddings, commercial real estate, dance competitions, and portraits. I shoot for the love of it and currently have approximately 35,000 photos in my LIghtroom cloud."
Matt Lancaster
Dream Rhythm 1
Boulder, CO
"Patterns" is not just the theme of this exhibition, it expresses a significant part of how I experience the world and make sense of my environment. Where I find patterns, I can settle and remain in place with calm and certainty; without patterns, I move on. As an artistic subject, patterns offer fundamental order of the visual field consistent with the Gestalt school of psychology. Such principles dominate my personal aesthetic and contribute greatly to my compositional preferences.
Matt Lancaster (b. 1966) is a mixed media visual artist who explores themes of emotional connection, natural processes, geometric relationships, and imagined realities through photography and encaustics. His vision is informed by degrees in design and geology, imparting a personal aesthetic that marries design principles and natural order. Lancaster’s art practice is rooted in experiential learning, with occasional formal coursework to supplement his self-taught inquiries. In solo and group shows he has exhibited work in venues such as Colorado Photographic Arts Center (CPAC) and Aperture Gallery, Denver, Colorado; Southeast Center for Photography (SEC4P), Greenville, South Carolina; Boulder Public Library, Bus Stop Gallery, and R Gallery, Boulder, Colorado; Lincoln Center for the Arts, Ft. Collins, Colorado; Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and A Smith Gallery, Texas. His awards include Director’s Choice (CPAC members’ show, 2023); Juror’s Choice (SEC4P members’ show, 2022); and People’s Choice (Denver Botanic Gardens Exhibition, 1997). In 2025 he joined the Board of Directors of CPAC and since 2024 he has been a guest speaker for camera clubs and has been mentoring photographers. His collectors include Lockheed Martin, Valley Bank and Trust (Brighton, Colorado), and Exempla St. Joseph Hospital (Denver). His images have been used in land conservation campaigns by the Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, and Keep It Colorado.
Boulder, CO
"Patterns" is not just the theme of this exhibition, it expresses a significant part of how I experience the world and make sense of my environment. Where I find patterns, I can settle and remain in place with calm and certainty; without patterns, I move on. As an artistic subject, patterns offer fundamental order of the visual field consistent with the Gestalt school of psychology. Such principles dominate my personal aesthetic and contribute greatly to my compositional preferences.
Matt Lancaster (b. 1966) is a mixed media visual artist who explores themes of emotional connection, natural processes, geometric relationships, and imagined realities through photography and encaustics. His vision is informed by degrees in design and geology, imparting a personal aesthetic that marries design principles and natural order. Lancaster’s art practice is rooted in experiential learning, with occasional formal coursework to supplement his self-taught inquiries. In solo and group shows he has exhibited work in venues such as Colorado Photographic Arts Center (CPAC) and Aperture Gallery, Denver, Colorado; Southeast Center for Photography (SEC4P), Greenville, South Carolina; Boulder Public Library, Bus Stop Gallery, and R Gallery, Boulder, Colorado; Lincoln Center for the Arts, Ft. Collins, Colorado; Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and A Smith Gallery, Texas. His awards include Director’s Choice (CPAC members’ show, 2023); Juror’s Choice (SEC4P members’ show, 2022); and People’s Choice (Denver Botanic Gardens Exhibition, 1997). In 2025 he joined the Board of Directors of CPAC and since 2024 he has been a guest speaker for camera clubs and has been mentoring photographers. His collectors include Lockheed Martin, Valley Bank and Trust (Brighton, Colorado), and Exempla St. Joseph Hospital (Denver). His images have been used in land conservation campaigns by the Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, and Keep It Colorado.
Jeanne Garrett
Circle of Light
Arlington Heights, IL
The seeds of my artwork were planted in childhood where I spent countless hours wandering through the wooded area near my home, captivated by the quiet wonders of the natural world. It's no surprise that nature remains at the heart of my creative work. Over the years, I've explored ways to present my photographs in a distinctive and personal way. Through the use of a variety of techniques, I seek to highlight the rhythms, shapes, and patterns found in the natural world. My process is a blend of handwork traditions from my youth and tools of modern technology, allowing me to reveal the hidden beauty within each image. Working intuitively, I am to balance what is real with what is imagined. Ultimately my intention is to invite viewers into a deeper connection with the natural world -- one that honors both its fragility and its enduring power.
Arlington Heights, IL
The seeds of my artwork were planted in childhood where I spent countless hours wandering through the wooded area near my home, captivated by the quiet wonders of the natural world. It's no surprise that nature remains at the heart of my creative work. Over the years, I've explored ways to present my photographs in a distinctive and personal way. Through the use of a variety of techniques, I seek to highlight the rhythms, shapes, and patterns found in the natural world. My process is a blend of handwork traditions from my youth and tools of modern technology, allowing me to reveal the hidden beauty within each image. Working intuitively, I am to balance what is real with what is imagined. Ultimately my intention is to invite viewers into a deeper connection with the natural world -- one that honors both its fragility and its enduring power.
Hugh Walker
Curves In The Rocks
Bridgetown, Barbados
I am a Barbados-based fine art and landscape photographer whose work transforms the everyday into captivating visual experiences. My goal is to craft images that evoke a deep emotional response, offering viewers a fresh perspective on the beauty of the world around them. I try to achieve compositions that are more than just photographs—they are moments suspended in time, rich with atmosphere and storytelling. Inspired by diverse
textures, contrasts. I try to bridge the gap between realism and art by blending precision with an intuitive understanding of movement and form. Whether framing a sweeping seascape, a quiet natural moment, or an abstract interplay of light and shape, I try to invite viewers to immerse themselves my vision of the world.
Bridgetown, Barbados
I am a Barbados-based fine art and landscape photographer whose work transforms the everyday into captivating visual experiences. My goal is to craft images that evoke a deep emotional response, offering viewers a fresh perspective on the beauty of the world around them. I try to achieve compositions that are more than just photographs—they are moments suspended in time, rich with atmosphere and storytelling. Inspired by diverse
textures, contrasts. I try to bridge the gap between realism and art by blending precision with an intuitive understanding of movement and form. Whether framing a sweeping seascape, a quiet natural moment, or an abstract interplay of light and shape, I try to invite viewers to immerse themselves my vision of the world.
Alexandra Beach
Cornered
Philadelphia, PA
As I’m learning to slow down and take time to really see the spaces around me, I realize the photos I take are a form of communication. I can capture scenes that spark curiosity; one’s that can encourage a moment of pause and contemplation about the story and history around a visual. I look for textures and depth that reflect the environments around us that we might take for granted. I’m most attracted to places
where signs of humanity’s presence is overtaken by time and nature. Because it’s a reminder that no
matter how far we progress, we are still creatures of this world.
Philadelphia, PA
As I’m learning to slow down and take time to really see the spaces around me, I realize the photos I take are a form of communication. I can capture scenes that spark curiosity; one’s that can encourage a moment of pause and contemplation about the story and history around a visual. I look for textures and depth that reflect the environments around us that we might take for granted. I’m most attracted to places
where signs of humanity’s presence is overtaken by time and nature. Because it’s a reminder that no
matter how far we progress, we are still creatures of this world.
Wayne Simpson
Zebras Stripes
Valparaiso, FL
Over 6 decades of looking through the lens of a camera. Wildlife photographer and book author.
Valparaiso, FL
Over 6 decades of looking through the lens of a camera. Wildlife photographer and book author.
Zuzana Pálešová
Mud
Bratislava, Slovakia
...like a silent word, like an inconspicuous gesture, small but so significant - there are details around us and between us.
Bratislava, Slovakia
...like a silent word, like an inconspicuous gesture, small but so significant - there are details around us and between us.
Alana Kolundzija
Diving Into the Details – Nice, France
Chicago, IL
All of my work – ranging from strategic advising and conducting research to creative endeavors and writing – is rooted in a desire to foster environments that allow everyone to thrive. I aim to tell stories and
facilitate experiences that spark an enduring curiosity about the relationship between humans, the
systems we build, and the natural world – particularly the intricate and often overlooked intimacy we share
with the plants and landscapes that surround us.
Utilizing a hybrid integration of creative expression and storytelling, I explore how ecological systems
shape our emotional terrain, cultural practices, and sense of belonging. I am intuitively draw to the subtle language of plants, the resilience of roots, and the way botanical life reveals wisdom that mirrors our own
cycles of growth, hibernation, decay, and renewal.
In an increasingly digitized and disembodied world, I write to reawaken a sense of connection to the living ecosystems that sustain us. Ultimately, my art expression is a practice of listening, opening my senses to
the natural world, and reintegrating the forgotten and fragmented parts that long for rootedness. It is a call to remember the deep interdependence that binds us all together.
Chicago, IL
All of my work – ranging from strategic advising and conducting research to creative endeavors and writing – is rooted in a desire to foster environments that allow everyone to thrive. I aim to tell stories and
facilitate experiences that spark an enduring curiosity about the relationship between humans, the
systems we build, and the natural world – particularly the intricate and often overlooked intimacy we share
with the plants and landscapes that surround us.
Utilizing a hybrid integration of creative expression and storytelling, I explore how ecological systems
shape our emotional terrain, cultural practices, and sense of belonging. I am intuitively draw to the subtle language of plants, the resilience of roots, and the way botanical life reveals wisdom that mirrors our own
cycles of growth, hibernation, decay, and renewal.
In an increasingly digitized and disembodied world, I write to reawaken a sense of connection to the living ecosystems that sustain us. Ultimately, my art expression is a practice of listening, opening my senses to
the natural world, and reintegrating the forgotten and fragmented parts that long for rootedness. It is a call to remember the deep interdependence that binds us all together.
Nicole Mordecai
Wooden Wave
Weston, MA
Photography is my way of exploring, seeing, and celebrating the world around me. After decades in software design, I find in photography a medium that balances technical precision with a personal vision. My work captures vibrant detail in our everyday surroundings, inviting viewers to see the familiar in new ways. Through teaching photography and photo editing, I share this passion, empowering others to find their own unique perspectives with the camera.
Weston, MA
Photography is my way of exploring, seeing, and celebrating the world around me. After decades in software design, I find in photography a medium that balances technical precision with a personal vision. My work captures vibrant detail in our everyday surroundings, inviting viewers to see the familiar in new ways. Through teaching photography and photo editing, I share this passion, empowering others to find their own unique perspectives with the camera.
Yuchen Wang
Blue Stone VI
Shanghai, China
There is a silence in stones that speaks louder than words. From ancient monuments to
childhood keepsakes, stones have long been witnesses to human existence - bearing
the weight of memory, loss, and longing across time. In my work, I explore the intimate,
often overlooked relationship between humans and stones: how we touch them, carry
them, leave them behind - and how they, in turn, absorb fragments of us.
I am drawn to stones not as static objects, but as vessels of emotional sediment. A
stone picked up during a journey, a polished pebble passed down from generations, or
a chunk of cave wall shaped by time - these are not just geological formations, but
containers of human tenderness and trauma. Stones resist language, yet invite
projection; they refuse to be molded, yet they hold our most fragile emotions.
To express this duality, I often wrap stones in blue - a color historically tied to the
Romantic imagination. Blue, as Novalis wrote, is the "color of distance," the hue of
yearning and the unknown. In my practice, it becomes both a shroud and a stage: a
metaphor for memory suspended between presence and absence. The Romantic blue
isn't just melancholic; it is an atmospheric longing, a soft rebellion against the rational. It
mirrors the human desire to preserve, to mourn, to dream - all of which are projected
onto the cold, silent surface of stone.
Through sculpture, photography, and installation, I treat stones not as inert materials but
as poetic agents - fragments of earth that bear witness to personal and collective
histories. I invite viewers to encounter them not only as matter, but as memory. In doing
so, I attempt to collapse the boundary between the geological and the emotional, the
temporal and the eternal - and to remind us that perhaps, in holding a stone, we are
also holding time itself.
Shanghai, China
There is a silence in stones that speaks louder than words. From ancient monuments to
childhood keepsakes, stones have long been witnesses to human existence - bearing
the weight of memory, loss, and longing across time. In my work, I explore the intimate,
often overlooked relationship between humans and stones: how we touch them, carry
them, leave them behind - and how they, in turn, absorb fragments of us.
I am drawn to stones not as static objects, but as vessels of emotional sediment. A
stone picked up during a journey, a polished pebble passed down from generations, or
a chunk of cave wall shaped by time - these are not just geological formations, but
containers of human tenderness and trauma. Stones resist language, yet invite
projection; they refuse to be molded, yet they hold our most fragile emotions.
To express this duality, I often wrap stones in blue - a color historically tied to the
Romantic imagination. Blue, as Novalis wrote, is the "color of distance," the hue of
yearning and the unknown. In my practice, it becomes both a shroud and a stage: a
metaphor for memory suspended between presence and absence. The Romantic blue
isn't just melancholic; it is an atmospheric longing, a soft rebellion against the rational. It
mirrors the human desire to preserve, to mourn, to dream - all of which are projected
onto the cold, silent surface of stone.
Through sculpture, photography, and installation, I treat stones not as inert materials but
as poetic agents - fragments of earth that bear witness to personal and collective
histories. I invite viewers to encounter them not only as matter, but as memory. In doing
so, I attempt to collapse the boundary between the geological and the emotional, the
temporal and the eternal - and to remind us that perhaps, in holding a stone, we are
also holding time itself.
Third Place
Honorable Mention
Honorable Mention
Director's Choice
cover photo: Nily Harel
Photo: Elizabeth Sanjuan
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