To be human is to live in the midst of contrast and contradiction. We strive so hard for lives that are calm, peaceful, restful; and yet the world around us is filled with chaos and turmoil. Nothing conveys this clash between tumult and vulnerability better than the contrast between the soft curves of a human body and the rough, hard textures of this rocky planet on which we live. And yet, paradoxically, even the harshness of nature can, in time, through the action of millions of waves and trillions of grains of sand, smooth out the sharp edges into smooth and polished stone. Nature both threatens and sustains us, and we find balance in the center of the storm.
I photographed Queen Dandelion on Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park in July 2018.