Featured Artist Jennifer Magallon

The awe inspiring beauty of nature is vividly portrayed in the gorgeous photography of artist Jennifer Magallon. Visit her website to see more of her work.

 

 

I would like to share with you my photographic journey through the awe-inspiring natural world. I was fascinated with cameras as a child, but it wasn’t something that was accessible to me at the time. I would say I was very intrigued, but I didn’t get involved until years later. In college, I had the opportunity to take a darkroom photography class; that was the hook for me.

 

 

I grew up in Germany in a very small village. As a child, I used to play outside a lot and explore the wonders of the natural world surrounding me.

 

 

I vividly remember climbing trees, kayaking on the river and wandering through the grassy fields surrounding the village.

 

 

I had a lot of freedom and space, which I think ultimately served as the foundation of my creativity and my strong connection with nature. As I grew older, I began to travel more and ventured beyond the boundaries of my village. I had always been adventurous, so I felt an innate desire to go out into the world and explore.

 

 

No place has fascinated me more, though, than the Southwestern United States. I’ve trekked across the shifting sands of the Algodones Dunes, I’ve bouldered bizarre rock formations in the Alabama Hills, and I’ve walked among the beautiful Joshua Trees.

 

 

Nature is, to me, a very meditative place; I often just pack up and head out for days so that I can reconnect with my environment and myself. It’s my car, my sleeping bag, and myself and I revel in the solitude of the space so that I can hike, reflect and photograph.

 

 

My art is intuitive. I don’t always know why I am drawn to something in particular. I just follow my instincts without many expectations, and I try to be open—open to falling in love with that moment and that experience.

 

 

The entire process isn’t just about capturing a photograph, it is about being captured by that moment in time and feeling compelled enough to push the shutter.

 

 

I think we are, at once, so disconnected from the natural world, yet connected to the virtual world. I would love for people to feel inspired to go out and experience nature; to appreciate its beauty, to realize its fragile state, to recognize its need for protection.

 

 

If people would become inclined to protect it in some small way—if I can achieve that with my photographs—then I would be very happy!

 

Photographer Jennifer Magallon invites you to follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

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