Reservoir Boats on Pause

From the Artist: On a daily basis, my husband of thirty years (now deceased) ran around the reservoir behind our house. I never accompanied him. In fact, until the pandemic, I had walked entirely around this bank of the reservoir only once. However, with socializing, traveling, and museum-going forbidden, I craved an activity that would keep me sane and engaged. Placing my faith in the, restorative power of art and nature, I started strolling along the reservoir, camera in hand. Forgoing the strap, I grasped the grip of the camera, keeping the DSLR at my side, almost as if we were holding hands.

Through the lens of my camera, I began examining the fauna and flora of my environment. I stopped often, noticing bird silhouettes that, pre-pandemic, I would have rushed right by. I became mesmerized by the interplay of sunlight and color on the water’s edge. With my images, I tried to capture scenes, evocative of a world on pause — rowboats sitting idle; foliage remaining sparse; leaves mimicking turtles resting on a fallen log. Ironically, silently contemplating the composition of these reservoir photographs brought me the solace I had not known I was seeking.