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Winter
2000
[TEXT ARCHIVE WEB-PUBLISHED
MARCH 2002.
ORIGINAL PRINT PUBLICATION DATE: WINTER 2000.]
Marsh
Under Moonlight
By
Miles Lowry
One
night two years ago, when battling insomnia and the light
of the full moon streaming through my bedroom window, I
decided to walk to Lincoln Marsh. It's just a few minutes
from my home. There I was met with revelations I had not
experienced since my days as a mountaineering instructor
in Colorado.
The
moonlight was so strong. No artificial light corrupted my
night vision. Soon subtle shades of gray in the shadows
gained strength and power. I was hooked. Since then, I have
visited the marsh at each full moon to make pictures.
In
the summer, the night is cool. The sounds of sora rails
and bullfrogs compete. Muskrats send smooth wakes behind
them in the water. At times, egrets can be seen asleep in
the oaks on an island in the middle. The great horned owl
is a regular — his silhouette can be seen on a barren
branch.
Cold
winter nights are stark. Nature raw and severe. I set up
my camera and tripod in the same spot each full moon, each
lunar month, to interpret the effect of the light on the
marsh. With 45-minute exposures, it is easy for me to adapt
to the quiet darkness. As my camera records the image, I
hike along the trails.
Canada
geese sleep on the water before it freezes. Their movements
are blurred by the long exposure. Airplanes emerge over
the horizon, their lights making tracks in the sky. From
time to time I have worked to restore this 130-acre marsh.
I love the physical work. Who needs a gym? But as a photographer,
the deepest inspiration for me is the break these acres
provide from the visual monotony of the suburbs.
The
Wheaton Park District, the Forest Preserve District of DuPage
County, and the Conservation Foundation have all helped
protect Lincoln Marsh. I pray that it will be here for centuries,
for millennia. This soggy place is an island of magic for
me and thousands of others, all of whom know it in our own
way.
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