Pelican Publishing Company The Solace of Nature: A Photographer's Journey

For Julia Sims, photography served as an excuse to spend time enjoying nature. After several family tragedies she found that when she was in some far away spot, she was able to be at peace with her grief. This breathtaking ensemble of nature photography radiates with both the heartbreak of her losses and the tranquility she found in the wilderness. In an evocative introduction to the book, John Kemp highlights Julia's life, her anguish, and her achievements.He brings her struggles and battles to light and shows how she was able to turn turmoil into beauty and beauty into healing. From the Inside Flap Photography began as a hobby for Julia Sims, but the tragic deaths of her mother, father, and brother led her to search for a means of healing from her grief. Sims eventually learned that the only time she was able to feel at peace from her loss was when she was in nature, camera in hand.Sims' craft guided her through her recovery, and her beautiful pictorial artistry comes alive on every page. With amazing clarity, each image evokes in the reader a sense of Sims' inner turmoil and the peace and harmony she found in the beauty of the natural world.Sims has photographed environments all over the world. From Alaska to Africa, Utah to Louisiana, her collections span the landscapes and wildlife of many climates and settings.In Africa she finds a new world filled with mystery and hope. Photographs such as those of a solitary monkey sitting in a tree and a freshly roused lion are keen examples of Sims' unique view. Images of a rainbow perfectly centered above a pair of pine trees at dusk in Ontario and the beauty of the red rock landscapes of Utah call to mind the tranquility that Sims so eagerly sought. The elusive subtlety of serenity is acutely captured in this collection of images. Sims' unique eye for nature and photography and John R. Kemp's masterfully written dialogue make it easy to see how one can find solace in nature's beauty. [BACK FLAP] Julia Sims is a premier wildlife photographer. Her work has appeared in virtually every nature magazine, including National Geographic, National Wildlife, Nature Conservancy, Sierra, Birder's World, and Ducks Unlimited. Her photography can also be found in Manchac Swamp: Louisiana's Undiscovered Wilderness and Vanishing Paradise: Duck Hunting in the Louisiana Marsh, both published by Pelican. She lives in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, about fifty miles north of New Orleans.John R. Kemp, a native New Orleanian, is the New Orleans correspondent for Art & Antiques and ARTnews magazines and a frequent contributor to American Artist magazine. He has written about art, history, and New Orleans for many other national and regional magazines and publications such as American Style, France Magazine, Louisiana Life, Louisiana Cultural Vistas, and the New Orleans Times Picayune. His numerous books include Rolland Golden: The Journeys of a Southern Artist, Alan Flattmann's French Quarter Impressions, and Vanishing Paradise: Duck Hunting in the Louisiana Marsh, all published by Pelican. He also has contributed chapters for several books, including More Conversations with Walker Percy. He covers the New Orleans art scene for WYES New Orleans public television and is deputy director of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. From the Back Cover A love of nature and outdoor photography has taken author Julia Sims all over North America and parts of Europe and Africa. The beauty and artistic expression of nature helped her cope with the grief she experienced after the tragic deaths of her mother, father, and brother. Looking for ways to overcome her feelings of loss, she eventually learned that the only place she was able to feel at peace was in nature. Through her journey of personal grief, she found the art of seeing nature not through words or paint but through the lens of a camera. Julia Sims' craft guided her through the recovery process, and her beautifu