Transient & Timeless — Alaska, Yukon & BC

If Earth’s history were scaled down to a single calendar year, humans would appear only in the last 23 minutes of December 31, and all recorded human history would occur in the final seconds before midnight. This project strives to capture this juxtaposition between the transient nature of humanity and the relative timelessness of geologic chronology.

The photographs in this series were captured during an overlanding journey from Colorado to Alaska, covering a 10,000-mile round trip through the remote and picturesque landscapes of British Columbia, the Yukon Territories, and Alaska. This was more than a road trip. It was an adventure in remote exploration: camping along the way and relying on my modified Land Cruiser as a home base for sleeping and cooking.

The images include the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which although a modern engineering marvel, transports oil that is millions of years old. Similarly, abandoned mines sites reveal man-made structures that seem ancient yet are set against a backdrop that predates them by millions of years.

The rapid retreat of glaciers due to recent climate change, starkly contrasts with the slow, ancient flow of glacial ice over geologic time. Meanwhile, modern transmission towers carrying power to coastal refineries disrupt the majesty of timeless mountain ranges.

Finally, under the vast expanse of the Milky Way, the camera captures starlight that has traveled thousands of years to reach it. These profound phenomena underscore the rarity and fleeting nature of human existence within the grand scale of time. Yet, this starlight also reminds us that we are made of the same elements forged in the hearts of stars, connecting us to something far more timeless — a cosmic lineage that ties our transient presence to the timeless rhythms of the universe.