The Dells

In 2018, I was commissioned by the Museum of Wisconsin Art to make photographs in the Wisconsin Dells over the course of a year. Formed by a catastrophic flood 15,000 years ago when a glacial ice dam burst, the unique riverscape of the Wisconsin Dells has attracted tourists since the 1860s, when photographs of the Dells by H.H. Bennett initially captured the attention of the nation.

For me, the Dells never held much allure. Due to the construction of a hydroelectric dam in 1909, much of what Bennett photographed there is now under water. The often gaudy commercial developments – built atop what is inarguably one of the most beautiful parts of the state – stand in sharp contrast to the landscape that initially drew people to the area. Unofficially dubbed ‘The Water Park Capitol of the World,’ its man-made attractions could exist anywhere in Wisconsin and still lure the millions of tourists that visit each year.

Despite this, many of the pictures I created in the Dells satisfied my tendency to hunt for solitude and a more subtle and poetic melding of the natural world and humanity.