About the Artist

Artist Statement

A VISUAL JOURNEY INTO A SUBURBAN WILDERNESS

 

This website is dedicated to the fine art photographic images I have produced within the boundaries of New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve. 

Of all the places I have setup my tripod the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve is one of the most unique.  It does not have the rugged sea coast of Scotland or Maine, desert spires of the Four Corners region of the desert Southwest, nor does it have  mountains, rolling hills, and lush valleys with babbling streams that are part of The Great Smokey Mountains.  The Pinelands possesses it's own natural beauty with it's dwarf pine forest, white cedar swamps, abandoned bogs, and a never ending network of two track sand roads.  Also known as The Pine Barrens it is far from barren.  The Pine Barrens is home to a full compliment of unique wild flowers, reptiles and amphibians (many of which are endangered or threatened), birds, mammals, along with miles and miles of rivers, streams, lakes.  The Pine Barrens are only barren of people in many of it's parts.

The Pinelands National Reserve is 1.1 million acres of land situated  in the middle of the most heavily populated state in the United States.  This National Treasure is the largest land mass between Maine and Florida and within it's boundaries lays the 17 million gallon Cohansey Aquifer. The Reserve encompasses several state forests, the largest of which is Wharton State Forest. In addition  there are Brendan T.  Bryne State Forest, Penn and Bass River State Forest. The flow of  four rivers begins and ends within the Pine Barrens The Mullica, Batsto, Wading and Oswego Rivers are all favorite runs for kayakers and canoeist. 

Although the Pine Barrens is not particularly user friendly,because most of the trails and roads are unmarked, it can be traveled and hiked with a little investigation.  In the future I plan to blog on this website about some of the more interesting areas you can travel and hike through without any difficulty.

The Pine Barrens is continually under threat from developers and people who seem more interested in destroying this national and state treasure than preserving it.  Thankfully several groups have stepped up to advocate for the Pine Barrens.  The most recognizable being Pinelands Preservation Alliance (PPA).  Large chunks of private lands have been preserved through the efforts of  the New Jersey Conservation Foundation as well. In the core of The Pinelands is the Conservation Foundation's 9400 acre Franklin Parker Preserve.

I hope you enjoy the images in this portfolio as much as I enjoyed taking them.

My greatest dream is to capture the beauty of the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, then, have those images help preserve it.

Albert D Horner
Medford Lakes, NJ