Elemental Connections
Photography and poetry by Judith Prest
The poet Mary Oliver writes I don’t know exactly what a prayer is / I do know how to pay attention. So, it would appear, does Judith Prest. Her glorious book of images and poetry captures the wonder of the natural world with the kind of delicacy and detail born of quiet contemplation and a devoted heart.
~ Mary Reynolds Thompson, author of Embrace Your Inner Wild: 52 Reflections for an Eco-Centric World and Reclaiming the Wild Soul: How Earth’s Landscapes Restore Us to Wholeness.
The idea for Elemental Connections came to me several years ago when I realized that I had quite a few nature poems and quite a few photographs that might go with those poems. “Elemental Connections” is also the name of one of the sections in Late Day Light, the poetry collection I published in 2011. Since then I have written more nature poems, taken more photos and finally it all came together this spring. This work is inspired by the work of Mary Reynolds Thompson, Efy, and Jan Phillips all of whom have published wonderful books with their writing and nature photographs. Nature is a healing force. I learned this very early because I was lucky enough to grow up on 45 acres of (then) mostly wild land in Delaware, with parents who were environmentalists and naturalists before it was “cool”. Gratitude to them and to all my teachers and mentors! And to Valerie Knight, vkdesign, without whom there would be no book!