Description
The coffee table book that offers more than just pictures.
Cultivating Intent is a photobook with an equal mix of imagery and stories about finding a path of personal growth.
Going to school in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was a transformational period for me. I went to Northern Michigan University where I discovered my passion for nature photography, so naturally I spent a lot of time hiking in this remote area. It started as small and infrequent hikes with friends. Eventually I was hiking for many hours almost every day. I tried to find a new place to go as much as possible so I left the trails and began to find very secluded areas. I always had my camera with me and I took over 100,000 photos during my time there. They were narrowed down to about 400 to go into this photobook, Cultivating Intent.
After countless hours in the woods I found a lot more than just pretty scenes. I found a metaphor for understanding life itself. The woods in the UP are a beautiful but harsh environment. They taught me how to be tough while still taking the time to stop and enjoy the scenery. At first the harsh conditions would turn me around and send me home, but the more time I spent out there the more I developed the skills and the mental fortitude to deal with the cold, the rough terrain, and the bugs. Especially the bugs.
I began to enjoy the challenge that the woods presented instead of dreading it. It was a fundamental change of perspective that allowed me to find a lot more enjoyment in the woods. It wasn’t long before that perspective spilled over into my regular life outside of the woods. I realized that the woods could serve as a metaphor for how to get the most out of life too. Cultivating Intent is a photobook about the woods in the UP, but it’s also about finding something you enjoy so much that it gives meaning to life and serves as a metaphor for how to live it.
Check out my next book here, A Hiker’s Philosophy.
