Falling Water- Bald River Gorge Wilderness, Tennessee

This image comes from Goodwin's series called “The Smallest Wilderness Project.” Through this project, the artist's aim is to visit and photograph all sixty-five federally designated wilderness areas under five thousand acres that are stand-alone units. His goal is to create a body of work that documents the uniquely American concept of wilderness and in particular this idea of small wilderness areas, which weren’t even conceived by the framers of the original Wilderness Act, which suggested parcels of over five thousand acres. What makes a wilderness, wilderness? Can some traditional wilderness characteristics be compromised while still giving visitors a sense of “true” wilderness? What is the value of wilderness in the first place? Goodwins goal is to make the public aware of these issues with the hope that it will help the public understand the value of these often unique areas and garner greater support and advocacy for their preservation and management.