My intentions with this series of self-portraits were to convey a subjective sense of vulnerability, and alienation -- of "being out of place," as well as my personal relationship to the natural landscape as a site of healing and home. The landscape of the northern California area where these self-portraits were shot has a diverse picturesque beauty -- rolling hills abundant with cows and sheep; majestic redwoods; abundant vineyards; numerous mountain ranges; a large river that empties into the ocean; and miles of untamed coastal beaches, all within a thirty minute drive of each other. The county also has a diverse economic composition, including wealthy wine growers, upper middle, middle and working class people, to struggling farmers, and migrant farm workers. With the exception of a large immigrant Mexican and Central American population consisting primarily of laborers, and a very tiny southeast Asian community, there are very few other people of color. The black population (consisting of African Americans and East African immigrants) was less than 1%. Living as a black woman in this rural area only an hour away from San Francisco and Oakland, CA was an experience ripe with contradictions. While taking the photographs in these beautiful natural settings, I was aware of the very real element of danger and risk involved with photographing there as a visible and potentially targeted 'minority' and multiply marginalized person.

Historically, the most enduring relationship that blacks have had with rural life, and the wilderness in America took place primarily in the south, where the experience was so brutal and oppressive that there were two major migrations following World Wars I and II. The urbanization of black people came about when they sought to escape the violence, injustice of Jim Crow laws, and poverty of share cropper lives, and seeking civil freedoms and better economic opportunities in urban areas across America. As a result, the black population became concentrated in urban areas. In the last 20 years with gentrification and loss of economic opportunities in urban areas, there has been a smaller return migration to the south.

The ten original pieces are a combination of 16x20 black & white selenium, toned and mixed media prints.This work-in-progress has been expanded to include a more comprehensive exploration of black Americans relationship to land and nature, as well as looking at the intersections of environmental, ecological and social justice issues.