Wind Farms

While I often focus my camera on natural forms and landscapes that seem untouched by human hands, other times I’m drawn to places where human technology has enhanced the beauty of our environment.

Hiking trails, reservoirs, roads, bridges, canals, and cabins can also be beautiful and inspiring, so long as they have been designed and constructed with thoughtfulness and consideration.

Earlier this month, I decided to drive to the coast and photograph the Desert Wind Energy Project. Constructed near Elizabeth City in 2016, this expansive wind farm was the first of its kind in both North Carolina and the Southeastern United States. Consisting of more than 100 turbines, the energy generated helps power nearby data centers for Amazon.com, Inc.

While companies like Amazon are far from perfect and don’t always do what is best for the environment, I still believe we should applaud them when they do. Wind farms need not be politically divisive, since they help support the farmers who own the land and provide clean energy in 45 states across the country.

During my travels last week, I spent two days driving along dirt roads and walking along the canals and fields that surround the turbines. From a distance, they seem almost like giant spinning plants that have grown out of the earth. More elegant than fixed industrial towers or smoke stacks that pollute our air, their thin white blades spin slowly and gracefully and seem to come alive across the horizon.