The Beyond Spheres Project seeks to transcend the borders of existing fine art photography by providing a visual interpretation of the unique philosophy and poems of Henry David Thoreau (1817-62). Thoreau's focus on a symbiotic relationship between human and nature suggests us to use our mind differently in order to live our lives fully:

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not when I came to die, discover that I had not lived" (Walden, 1854).

Thoreau alerts us that a constant conformity to society's constraints, its obligations and rewards, can deprive us of a more expansive and salubrious view of our humanity. It posits that in an awareness of our connectedness to nature, and therefore to each other, we encounter our humaneness and humanity to full potential.

Thoreau created a paradigm that benefits humanity. His writings provide an access to a new model of human understanding. A visual rendering of Thoreau's compelling verbal imagery may similarly reinvigorate the paradigm, as art has always preserved and promoted humanity's best qualities. In conclusion, in this time of global crises, unremitting violence, financial depredations and environmental devastation, Beyond Spheres Project may contribute to a much-needed renewed paradigm.

The Project will utilize the photographic processes of the inventor of photography and Thoreau's English contemporary, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-77). The Project seeks to preserve and expand upon Talbot's Calotype technique for creating a paper negative and his salt print process for printing. Using his processes, in 1844, Talbot also created the first photography portfolio book, The Pencil of Nature.

The Project will create an on-site a limited edition portfolio book in ThoreauÅfs footsteps and in the spirit of Talbot's book. This Project consists of three interrelated parts:
* To create fine art photography inspired by Thoreau's philosophy and poetics.
* To aide in the continuum of historic photographic processes.
* To expand education as it related to the relationship between humanity and nature, holding a symposium of lectures and or art performances relating to the intersection of the three parts of the Project.