“West Texas Weeds” is a work that came about from a random urge to get out and shoot when an oncoming storm approached outside of Midland one late afternoon in July of 2016. The air was thick with humidity and it clung to the brush and mesquite around me as I hunted for lightning – something photographers look for and try to catch in a bottle.
Typically when I head out to shoot in the patch I get as close as I can to the rigs and derricks – but not this time. I stayed far back, setting my shot deep between the platform and the brush before me.
The problem with catching lightning is you’re never quite sure if you’ve caught it or not and when you do catch it – you never know exactly what the outcome will be.
The moisture in the air hung around me, bonding with the sweet smell of the weeds that grew in great numbers at my heels. I had never paid much mind to the weeds until that night.
It wasn’t until days later when I looked back on the images that I realized I’d captured something that was not only unique but rare: lightning in a bottle surrounded by a lush landscape that most take for granted.
The lightning, while illuminating in its brilliance and power, was upstaged by the rainbow of colors hidden in the growth. With each strike, their vibrancy seemed to grow in intensity until I captured the shot that led to this final work.
After three years, I’m finally finished with what I hoped to achieve with “West Texas Weeds”: showing the beauty of the oil industry against the backdrop of God’s creation.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.