Infrared Camera Captures the Poetically Desolate Landscapes of Northern California

San Francisco-based photographer Nathan Wirth captures “slices of silence” in his beautiful, on-going series of desolate landscapes. The striking black and white images depict solitary trees on rolling hills in Marin and Sonoma counties in Northern California, where marbled-gray skies often cast ominous backdrops over the grassy knolls. It gives us the feeling that at any moment, something could easily go awry.

Wirth's photos are divided into three series, all under the name Infrared Silence. To give them such a distinctive look, he took the pictures using an infrared-converted camera. Thanks to this alteration, what were once low-light scenes and drab skies now take on a striking visual presence–as if they're not of this world.

Above photo: Hamilton I–The Hills of Marin County, California, USA

Oak II–Novato, California, USA

White Tree XI–The Hills of Solano County, California, USA

Oak–Novato, California, USA

White Tree XII–The Hills of Sonoma County, California, USA

Tree & Single Cloud–Marin County Hills, California, USA

Tree & Clouds–Marin County Hills, California, USA

A Poet's Tree, Study Number II–Deer Island, Novato, California, USA

Tree & Hill–The Hills of Marin County, California, USA

White Tree X–The Hills of Marin County, California, USA

Dark Roast–The Hills of Marin County, California, USA

Nathan Wirth: Website | Behance | Flickr | 500px
via [Twisted Sifter]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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