Where Waters Meet

An unexpected landscape discovered on the way to see the bears

LAKE CLARK, ALASKA

###LAKE CLARK, ALASKA

An unexpected landscape discovered on the way to see the bears

From above, the Alaskan landscape becomes almost abstract.

Layers of water in shifting shades of blue, gray, green, and earthy brown meet around a narrow curve of dark shoreline. A tiny white structure rests along the land, providing a subtle sense of human scale within the vast landscape.

I captured this original aerial photograph through the window of a small plane during an August journey to Lake Clark National Park, Alaska, where I was heading for one of the experiences I had been most excited about — seeing Alaska’s coastal brown bears in the wild.

But somewhere along the way, I looked out the window.

And the journey itself became part of what I came home remembering.

PLACE — Lake Clark, Alaska

Lake Clark National Park is the kind of place where getting there is part of the experience.

There are no roads connecting the park to Alaska’s highway system, and small aircraft are an important way of reaching its remote landscapes.

From the air, the scale of Alaska begins to reveal itself differently.

Water, shoreline, mountains, and immense stretches of undeveloped land extend beneath the plane. Individual landmarks become tiny, while patterns that would be difficult to appreciate from the ground begin to emerge.

Shorelines become sweeping lines.

Water becomes layers of color.

And the landscape starts to look almost like a painting.

PURSUIT — On the Way to See the Bears

I captured this photograph during an August trip to Alaska while flying by small plane toward Lake Clark National Park to see coastal brown bears in the wild.

Naturally, the bears were what I was thinking about.

But somewhere along the flight, I looked down.

Below me, different colors and textures of water appeared to meet around a narrow strip of dark land. A tiny white structure sat almost alone within the scene.

From that height, everything had been reduced to shape, line, texture, and color.

For a moment, I forgot about where I was going.

I simply watched what was passing beneath me.

Sometimes, the journey gives us something we weren’t looking for.

PERSPECTIVE — When the Landscape Becomes Abstract

What fascinated me most was the separation of the water.

Seen from above, subtle differences in color and texture became surprisingly distinct. Cool blue-gray water occupied one part of the landscape, softer earth-toned water another, while hints of green and turquoise appeared closer to the shoreline.

Between them, the narrow strip of dark land curved through the frame almost like a line drawn by hand.

And then there was the small white structure.

Against such a vast landscape, it appeared impossibly tiny.

That single detail gave scale to everything around it and transformed what could almost be mistaken for an abstract composition back into a real place.

I love that tension in this photograph.

From across the room, the landscape becomes color, texture, and geometry.

Look closer, and the shoreline, water, and traces of human presence begin to reveal themselves.

I had boarded the plane thinking about the destination — the bears waiting somewhere ahead.

Instead, this photograph became a reminder that travel is also made up of everything that happens in between.

Sometimes, looking out the window is part of the journey.

That unexpected moment of discovery, scale, and seeing the earth differently is what I wanted to preserve in this frame.