JOEL SIMPSON

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BIOGRAPHY

In 2002 after careers in college teaching and jazz piano, New Jersey-native JOEL SIMPSON devoted himself to his great love since age 13: photography. He explored a number of photographic genres, but eventually found himself drawn back to his childhood passion, rocks. Having immersed himself in 20th Century art, he came to explore natural figurations and symbols in rock formations, ice, and botanical subjects that touch off both explicit and unconscious associations in the viewer.


Simpson’s work has been exhibited in Paris (Musée de l’érotisme), Tours, Rome, Barcelona, and many US galleries and art fairs. His images have been published in Silvershotz (Australia), View Magazine (Brussels), Camera Arts (Boulder, CO) and Focus Exposures (online). He went around the world in 2014 and continues to travel extensively, mainly in search of provocative mineral formations.


In 2007 Simpson curated a 125-artist photography show at the Williamsburg Art and Historical (WAH) Center in Brooklyn, Sun Pictures to Mega-Pixels, focusing on non-silver-based photography. The WAH Center continues to show and collect his work. He continues to teach photography, more recently on Zoom. His awards include ten Black and White Spider Awards (2012–2020, UK), and was named one of the “Best Landscape Photographers of 2019” and again in 2021 by One Eyeland (India). His 2019 book, Earthforms: Intimate Portraits of Our Planet, was featured on the cover of Natural History Magazine (June, 2019) and won the 2019 Nautilus Gold Award for Art and Photography. A shorter book (50 pp.) of geological photography came out in 2021, Playgrounds for the Mind: The Art of Geological Photography. Though his current work is generally classed as “landscape” photography, Simpson believes that he goes deeper than the conventional landscape, focusing more on the power of natural forms to stir the mind, rather than conveying a sense of place—and even of scale.

ARTISTIC METHOD

I research areas that are especially rich in forms, many of which can be found in deserts in the Western states of the US, as well as all over the world. I believe my sensitivity to provocative, metaphor-rich formations has greatly benefited from my book-research and long experience viewing art in museums, galleries and art fairs.

Before starting out, I carefully make spread-sheet itineraries to make maximum use of my time, In such environments (at any time of day), I follow my intuition to capture as many images as possible. Once at home at my computer, I sort through these, looking for the most provocative ones, then work on the chosen ones to bring out the forms that are most interesting or salient, generally rendering them in black and white. Often I’ll find an image some time later whose power I didn’t notice at first. In this way my collections of favorites grows.

I also work with an 8-mm fisheye (circular format) lens on my Canon 6D Mark II and create panoramas of vertical components, later stitched together, using a photo stitching program. My drone is another important tool of capture. Aerial compositions from 100 meters up can be just as interesting as closeups from two meters.

Unreal City (Valley of Capless Hoodoos), Bisti Badlands, New Mexico This collection of hoodoos or cap rocks with many of their caps missing seemed to resemble the site of a disaster, or alternatively the aftermath of an invasion of H. G.Wells' Martians from "War of the Worlds.”
Unreal City (Valley of Capless Hoodoos), Bisti Badlands, New Mexico This collection of hoodoos or cap rocks with many of their caps missing seemed to resemble the site of a disaster, or alternatively the aftermath of an invasion of H. G.Wells' Martians from "War of the Worlds.”
Wetland from 300 Feet, East Hanover, NJ, This wetland in East Hanover, New Jersey, lies near to a highway and to an abandoned airfield, where my drone group met last March. The drone discovered it behind a row of trees, and I was astonished at the stark beauty of the divers plant life from about 300 feet up, before deciduous leaves had grown from the trees. In monochrome it became a study in textures.
Wetland from 300 Feet, East Hanover, NJ, This wetland in East Hanover, New Jersey, lies near to a highway and to an abandoned airfield, where my drone group met last March. The drone discovered it behind a row of trees, and I was astonished at the stark beauty of the divers plant life from about 300 feet up, before deciduous leaves had grown from the trees. In monochrome it became a study in textures.
Approach to the Castle (Talus with Caprocks), Bisti Badlands, New Mexico Bisti Badlands is a large area of amazing natural structures in Northwest New Mexico, also called De-Nah-Zin Wilderness. These formations looked like castles above a steep hill of the foreground talus.
Approach to the Castle (Talus with Caprocks), Bisti Badlands, New Mexico Bisti Badlands is a large area of amazing natural structures in Northwest New Mexico, also called De-Nah-Zin Wilderness. These formations looked like castles above a steep hill of the foreground talus.
Pahoehoe Lava Fingers, Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i Lava as a frozen fluid offers an infinite variety of forms, and the vast lava fields from eruptions both recent and longstanding, present endless hunting grounds for image creation. Here the lava has frozen into both rope-like twists and coils and finger-like larger forms. Of course, it kills all plants with its extreme heat. The spores of ferns, carried by the wind, are the first to recolonize its terrain.
Pahoehoe Lava Fingers, Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i Lava as a frozen fluid offers an infinite variety of forms, and the vast lava fields from eruptions both recent and longstanding, present endless hunting grounds for image creation. Here the lava has frozen into both rope-like twists and coils and finger-like larger forms. Of course, it kills all plants with its extreme heat. The spores of ferns, carried by the wind, are the first to recolonize its terrain.
Consanguinity (Mulit-Textural Lava Formatin), Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i This well-demarcated formation is composed of about a dozen close-fitting parts, each one with a distinct texture or reticulation pattern. It resembled a unified art work, laid out on the ground, not dissimilar from others I’ve seen in galleries made by human artists that juxtapose contrasting artistic elements to create a composite icon of diversity.
Consanguinity (Mulit-Textural Lava Formatin), Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i This well-demarcated formation is composed of about a dozen close-fitting parts, each one with a distinct texture or reticulation pattern. It resembled a unified art work, laid out on the ground, not dissimilar from others I’ve seen in galleries made by human artists that juxtapose contrasting artistic elements to create a composite icon of diversity.
Ouessant E. T. (Rockpile) Ile de Ouessant, France This rock stack, one of many on the Pern Peninsula on the French Ile de Ouessant of the coastal point of Brittany, bore an uncanny resemblance to E. T.
Ouessant E. T. (Rockpile) Ile de Ouessant, France This rock stack, one of many on the Pern Peninsula on the French Ile de Ouessant of the coastal point of Brittany, bore an uncanny resemblance to E. T.
Jester, Goblin Valley State Park, Utah The astonishing 2 square miles of Goblin Valley State Park is filled with upright mudstones. Most of them resemble mushrooms, but among the provocative variations was this especially comic one.
Jester, Goblin Valley State Park, Utah The astonishing 2 square miles of Goblin Valley State Park is filled with upright mudstones. Most of them resemble mushrooms, but among the provocative variations was this especially comic one.
5-Million-Year-Old Kiss, Red Rock Canyon State Park, California California's Red Rock Canyon State Park, not far from Ridgecrest, features monumental sandstone structures whose erosion has left stacked rows of rough oblongs that could be mistaken for figures—like rows of saints on a cathedral. Except that around a corner, in shadow (when I found them) two of them seemed to be kissing. As a rock formation, I assumed they had been in this pose for millions of years.
5-Million-Year-Old Kiss, Red Rock Canyon State Park, California California's Red Rock Canyon State Park, not far from Ridgecrest, features monumental sandstone structures whose erosion has left stacked rows of rough oblongs that could be mistaken for figures—like rows of saints on a cathedral. Except that around a corner, in shadow (when I found them) two of them seemed to be kissing. As a rock formation, I assumed they had been in this pose for millions of years.
Slashed Mask (Layered Sandstone), Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, is one of the most fascinating collections of hikes in the West, excelling in just the kind of small- and medium-scale formations that offer touchstones to the imagination. This configuration, captured in bright sunlight in the "Beehives" formation, stood out as a rough face—a mask—with a dramatic fault line running diagonally through it.
Slashed Mask (Layered Sandstone), Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, is one of the most fascinating collections of hikes in the West, excelling in just the kind of small- and medium-scale formations that offer touchstones to the imagination. This configuration, captured in bright sunlight in the "Beehives" formation, stood out as a rough face—a mask—with a dramatic fault line running diagonally through it.
Obelisk, Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona The sandstone formations of this famous slot canyon are unmatched in the provocative curves and colors. They were shaped over millions of years by the rare flash floods that occur in this desert environment. This photograph was taken with a “fisheye” lens, an 8-mm super-wide angle that gives a circular image.
Obelisk, Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona The sandstone formations of this famous slot canyon are unmatched in the provocative curves and colors. They were shaped over millions of years by the rare flash floods that occur in this desert environment. This photograph was taken with a “fisheye” lens, an 8-mm super-wide angle that gives a circular image.
Tree-Fern Forest Canopy, Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i The hiking paths that link views of craters and lava in this National Park are covered with primeval forests dominated by tree-sized ferns that seem to harken back to the Carboniferous period, about 300 million years ago, before deciduous trees had evolved. A “fisheye” lens photograph.
Tree-Fern Forest Canopy, Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i The hiking paths that link views of craters and lava in this National Park are covered with primeval forests dominated by tree-sized ferns that seem to harken back to the Carboniferous period, about 300 million years ago, before deciduous trees had evolved. A “fisheye” lens photograph.
Blue Basin Panorama, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Sheep Rock Unit The light cyan hue was caused by a rare combination of minerals from a volcano that erupted some 26 million years ago.
Blue Basin Panorama, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Sheep Rock Unit The light cyan hue was caused by a rare combination of minerals from a volcano that erupted some 26 million years ago.
Zion Canyon Overlook with Virgin River, Zion National Park, Utah This famous view of the main valley of Zion National Park requires a climb of about 15 minutes to arrive at the vista point.
Zion Canyon Overlook with Virgin River, Zion National Park, Utah This famous view of the main valley of Zion National Park requires a climb of about 15 minutes to arrive at the vista point.
White Pocket Drone Panorama, White Pocket, Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona This bizarre remote formation, named after its light-colored cross-bedding, is characterized by these notable double hills with capricious orange incursions. This panorama was created from two stills from a drone video, captured on a winter morning.
White Pocket Drone Panorama, White Pocket, Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona This bizarre remote formation, named after its light-colored cross-bedding, is characterized by these notable double hills with capricious orange incursions. This panorama was created from two stills from a drone video, captured on a winter morning.
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