When I was photography artist-in-residence at The Bascom Center for the Visual Arts in the blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, my two-month sojourn there was capped with a solo exhibition in the center’s Joel Gallery, where I gave an artist’s talk. This image was one of the first to sell, I’m proud to say. It’s the order I see here, the design of this snag, disintegrating into blocks, that struck me. I’d driven up and down the gorge of the Cullasaja River many times over two months, and of course it would seem obvious to photograph all the waterfalls—I did with some, but others I couldn’t find an interesting angle. So I would do what I often do: just wander around in the trees. And that’s how I found this snag, a little down from Quarry Falls, not on any trail at all. It always strikes me that I don’t especially long for the photographs anyone else would take. I’m always looking for something different, something unique.