Tuesday May 26, 2026 | EDITION NO. 020 |
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✨Roots. Sets. Retreats. Truth.✨ |
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Rocky Mountain National Park |
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Happy May to you! If I had to sum up 2026 so far in a single word, it would be the one I chose back in January: align. It's been quietly guiding me — from finally committing to a real fitness routine (a combination of strength training, cardio, and Pilates, six days a week, if you're curious — my body is very confused and also grateful) to pouring fresh energy into The Art of Place, to tackling some long-overdue projects around the house. There's something deeply satisfying about tending to all the layers of a life at once, and I've been feeling it this year in ways I didn't entirely expect. That spirit of alignment is showing up in my creative work too, and this newsletter reflects it. (And speaking of creative energy — if you missed last month's news about the Circle of Light ebook, click the blue button below to take a look. We're so proud of it.) This month I have a new blog post to share about one of my favorite photographic approaches — working with image sets — that I think will genuinely shift how you look at a subject in the field. I also have a confession to make about a waterfall and some complicated feelings I've been sitting with for a while. And on the exciting news front, I'm thrilled to announce Deeply Rooted, a new direction I've been quietly nurturing, and I have details about an upcoming women's retreat that I hope will speak to some of you. Grab your coffee. There's a lot of good stuff below, and I'm grateful to have this space to bring you along. |
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I'll be sending another edition of The Art of Place next month. Until then, I hope you are able to get outside and connect with the many things nature has to offer this season! |
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- michele, the art of place |
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Sarah Marino's blog post Interpretations #1: There Are No Right Answers in Art struck a chord for me. I am 100% in agreement with her thesis. Art is (or should be) subjective and personal, and it is up to us as artists to develop the confidence to chart our own course with our images rather than adopting someone else's as our own. Blindly accepting dogmatic approaches to our craft risks drowning out our unique vision, so proceeding with caution is advised. A great, thought-provoking read, and the first in a new series from Sarah. My husband and I have both bought an all new Shimoda camera bag setup for a big trip to Europe this fall. We each have a backpack and roller bag with a large core unit that easily moves from the roller to the backpack and back again - so excited to streamline our airport travel! Life Kit Guide to Building Strength is a practical and straightforward email series from NPR that helped me finally get started on a focused and serious weight-training program - highly recommend it for clarity and motivation. Five Hundred Words is an essay of substance by Marie Mutsuki Mockett that weaves together Japanese poetic tradition and personal ancestry to explore what it means to long for belonging across cultures and generations. Through the ancient practice of renga—linked poetry passed between women in her family—she traces a chain of connection that war, displacement, and time have frayed but never fully broken. At the heart of the essay is the Japanese saijiki, a seasonal almanac pairing words from the natural world with human feeling, and Mockett uses its unraveling under climate change as both ecological lament and creative provocation: as the seasons shift and old words strain against new realities, what do artists owe to the living world that taught us to pay attention? This beautiful essay intersects substantially with my own experience of cultural and personal displacement, and the role that the natural world can play in offering us a powerful sense of belonging. When I saw Beth Young's incredible Spring image gallery, I had to share it with you! Beth specializes in healing imagery for the healthcare sector, and she has a love of ethereal, softly colored images like I do. I thought you would enjoy her beautiful work. |
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The Art of Place empowers creative landscape & nature photographers to elevate their artistry and find meaningful connections with the natural world. It's like art school… but for nature photographers. |
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Roanoke, VA 24018, United States |
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