“Walls’ images prove that the transcendent moments in our own lives weren’t just tricks of our imaginations.”

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Though they are deeply beautiful, Benjamin Walls’ images could never be called “pretty.” That adjective seems too small and surface-level for his work. “Compelling” seems more accurate. Walls’ art arrests us in our forward motion, requiring attention, focus, and, reflection. Most importantly, it functions as a call to action, asking viewers to leave behind simple, passive awareness to do something: to pay attention to the flora and fauna that surround us where we live, or, at best, to go farther afield as Walls himself does, seeking new experiences that open us more fully to the natural world illuminated by his art. These images take us beyond simple awareness and call us to consider carefully and even to question what we think we know. They make us care, driving home the importance of active participation in preserving the wonders of our natural world.

Walls’ images also prove that the transcendent moments in our own lives weren’t just tricks of our imaginations. Somehow, he captures and translates those moments from his own life, validating their existence for everyone. These photographs reinforce our dreams and passions, rekindling some of the wonder and awe that the everyday routines of our lives often rub away. We are reinvigorated by the moments that he offers us—moments of mystery and reflection, certainly—but also moments with an even deeper importance. Walls’ images reassure us of the reality of beauty and possibility. They suggest that we set aside time and observe. They encourage and inspire us to consider the essence of the landscape or the storm or the animal Walls has photographed, and they set a good example. Viewers leave an exhibit of his work with a renewed tendency to notice their own surroundings in greater, more vivid detail. Collectors want to live with his art because it is lovely, but also because it demands something of them while offering a daily reminder that there are myriad elements of nature worth noticing, and beyond just noticing, worth preserving.

​Dr. Katie Hoffman