As a young photographer, David Maisel travelled to Mount St. Helens in 1983, just three years after the volcano erupted in a devastating blast which flattened forests and claimed the lives of many people. Witnessing the radical transformation of the land on such a massive, incomprehensible scale affected him deeply, and set the course for his future work. Reconsidering these images more than three decades later, Maisel can appreciate them with greater clarity. The pictures are both desolate and delicate, and show a young artist at work, experimenting with new techniques and wrestling with the traditions of landscape art. With texts by Gary Snyder and Marcia Bjornerud.
