Pat’s Story

“Boyd County Triptych” by Pat James

An early definition of livelihood is “the quality or state of being lively.” When I am taking photographs in the hilly pastures of my family’s property in northeast Nebraska, I see the soft forms of the earth, the jagged lines of trees and grasses, and the changing textures and colors during different times of day and seasons. As I walk to the top of hills, climb down deep draws, follow cow paths, and push my way through thick sumac stands, I feel the sensations of the wind and the ground on my feet and face, in my lungs, and in the muscles of my arms and legs. Although I can see great distances up and down the Missouri River and across into South Dakota, I can be enclosed in smaller spaces under trees and in draws. I am separate and solitary, but I am also inside a larger spiritual whole and part of natural and human history. It is a place that I have come to love, but it is also a place that transcends my brief time in it. Photography connects me to the land and to the people who live there.

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