In search of Wonder

February 2026 Newsletter

Welcome to 2026. I hope you enjoyed a relaxing break over the Christmas holidays and are ready for the excitement, surprises, and challenges the new year will undoubtably bring. Over the holidays I re-read Robert Adams’s books1 and kept returning to this sentence: “In order to make pictures that no one has made before, they (photographers) have to be attentive and imaginative, qualities partly assigned and partly chosen, but in any case ones that leave them vulnerable.” The implication of “no one has made before” struck me as an impossibly high bar to achieve considering how many images are made …

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Carhenge, Alliance, Nebraska

“This will be a very intriguing monument.”- James Reinders “The project is stupid” his wife proclaimed, but Jim Reinders was undeterred. An Alliance High School graduate, his career in the oil industry landed him in London, England for six years before retiring. In exploring England’s historical sites, the Salisbury Plains surrounding Stonehenge reminded him of western Nebraska. His father passed away soon after Jim retired. As a memorial to his dad’s life, he decided to build a replica of Stonehenge on the family farm. Large rocks are rare and expensive in Nebraska, so Jim settled on vintage cars, which are …

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GK Reiser: An Artist in Seclusion Seeking Connection

“I can be who I am without limitation out here” Leaving the small town of Escalante, I wonder if it is sustainable to create art without the appreciation and validation of an audience. I had just spent a couple of days with Reiser, a man who, in fulfilling a long-held compulsion, remade himself into a sculptor and painter. The day before, after parking outside Reiser’s home, Henry bounded up with the unconstrained canine joy of seeing a long-lost friend. Reiser, tall, with athletic movements, bright blue intelligent eyes, and wild snowy hair, emerged from the shadows of his front yard, …

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Leonard Knight’s Colorful Monument to God, Salvation Mountain, California

“There’s going to be a worldwide love story coming down, universal. Love’s going to come down and it’s going to stomp all over hate. Hate is a losing proposition – it’s not as big as love. Total love is going to come down, and I see it coming. God! I see it coming!” – Leonard Knight Driving through Niland, a drab town becoming ghostly with no one in sight and boarded up decaying buildings, I was both eager to experience Salvation Mountain and a little nervous about visiting the off-grid alternate lifestyle community of Slab City. Slab City was established …

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Exploring Heizer’s Double Negative Land Art, Nevada

Michael Heizer’s Double Negative, a land art piece in Nevada, involves two massive excavated trenches. While it prompts admiration and ambivalence due to its environmental impact, it also fosters local pride and tourism. Though initially meant to degrade over time, Heizer now desires restoration, reflecting his complex relationship with the artwork.

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