Soaring to new heights, with “Michigan Meditation”
For the past six months or so, I’ve been working on something big — my first public large-scale photography installation. And now, I can finally talk about it!
The new installation, “Michigan Meditation,” can be seen at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, as a part of its new sensory room (which is the first of its kind in Michigan). The photo is placed behind two beach chairs and a make-shift fire pit for guests to enjoy, and featured small lights peeking out from behind the photograph, which represent fireflies.
The photograph was taken in Grand Haven with a Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 Art lens, along with a Sony a7 III camera. It features an amazing sunset right on the beach. Here’s more about this project:
Michigan Meditation
Growing up in Northern Michigan, the beach was like a second home. The waves of Lake Michigan crashing into the rocks, the silky sand, the beautiful sunsets.
This photograph, taken at Grand Haven State Park, features the timeless canvas that is the Lake Michigan shoreline. At sunset, this turns into a symphony of color and light. My goal was to showcase the tranquility and awe-inspiring beauty that sunsets can create on our lakeshore.
As a corporate photographer in West Michigan, my work lets me explore the busy lives that West Michiganders experience day-to-day. With this photograph, I wanted to take a step back, and present a natural, calming spectacle that we often take for granted.
West Michigan gives us some wonderful opportunities to explore the natural world around us. Whether in the deep forests with sky-towering trees in Holland, the hilly dunes of Saugatuck, or the serene sunsets in Grand Haven. I invite you to explore this — and to create your own — “Michigan Meditation.”
I have to thank Katie Moore for all her assistance with this project. It truly could not have been possible without her guidance.
The sensory room is a collaboration between Gerald R. Ford International Airport and Kent County Disability Advocates, and I have to thank each of them for selecting to work with me for this amazing project.
Next time you’re traveling, be sure to swing by the sensory room to check this out. It’s located in the newly revamped Concourse A, next to the Grand Rapids Magazine Store. Just buzz yourself in with the intercom.
With this installation, it’s my hope that this can calm and relax people prior to leaving the airport for their journeys. I’m super excited about this project and the way it came together, and I hope it’s just the start of some larger-scale photography installations in the future.
