Seeking Beauty, Finding God

“My goal as an artist is to make art that’s part of a conversation. My favorite question is: How can beauty, honesty, and wondering change the world? And my second question is: What does it mean to be an artist in community—a community where we seek to treat each other as beautiful?

When I’m out in the field collecting images, I find myself holding a conversation with my Creator through the subjects that I capture. I see, hear, smell, and touch God as I move through the dunes, wetlands, streams, forests, fields, and urban and rural settings. I say prayers in return—prayers of thanksgiving for the beauty, prayers for healing brokenness, and prayers that simply acknowledge the greatness of our Creator.”

—Photographer Robert deJonge ’78