“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”   ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods
With these words, Thoreau began his book describing his adventures of living for two years in a small, self-built cottage in the forest next to Walden Pond. I began a one year project to photograph Walden Pond for much the same reason. It is a far simpler landscape than those presented by the grandeur of the American West. As such, it demands closer attention to detail and to the subtle interplay changes of nature have on the scene. For a full appreciation of Walden Pond you are required to bring something of yourself to the equation. I am spending two years (the same amount of time Thoreau lived there) photographing Walden Pond. My goal is to complete a book and collection of prints from the project that reflect the pond and forest life as Thoreau might have experienced it. The project is now in its final stage of progress.