de Menil Gallery’s winter exhibit, ‘What Gorgeous Thing,’ features photography of Craig J. Barber and Jesse Burke

Groton School’s de Menil Gallery continued its 2024–25 season with the opening reception for “What Gorgeous Thing,” an exhibition of photographic projects by Craig J. Barber and Jesse Burke, on January 25. 

“What Gorgeous Thing” explores two long-term, personal projects of Mr. Burke and Mr. Barber, where nature and agricultural landscapes become poignant reflections of human experience. 

Mr. Burke’s “Wild & Precious” captures the relationship between land and self, emphasizing the importance of observation and immersion in the natural world to uncover the lessons it affords. 

In contrast, Mr. Barber’s “Farming the Valley” documents the dynamic cultural landscape of agriculture, revealing the beauty and complexity of farming life amidst rapid change. Together, their works offer a narrative that celebrates the interconnectedness of individuals and the land they inhabit.

Mr. Barber is a Pacific Northwest–based photographer documenting farmers and their work—growing our food. For over thirty years he has focused on the cultural landscape in rapid transition, some fading from memory. His work has explored Vietnam, Havana, Tuscany, farmers in the Finger Lakes and Catskill Mountain regions of New York, and now Skagit Valley in Washington State. He has taught workshops and lectured throughout the United States, Ireland, Central Europe and Mexico using alternative cameras and antiquarian processes. 

“‘Farming the Valley’ documents farmers, their work, and the land they till,” said Mr. Barber. “I live in Skagit Valley, ninety miles north of Seattle, where the soil is rich and over ninety crops are grown. I wander up and down the same roads and walk the same fields during the growing and harvest seasons, through every kind of weather. The land is sometimes lush, sometimes winter trodden, sometimes fallow as I witness the cycle of life. My every day approach informs an intimate story of this beautiful landscape that is now hard worked by humankind. It is a portrait of a gentle landscape that changes daily, weekly, seasonally. This is a dynamic and vital landscape that feeds a vast community—that grows our food.”

Recently named one of Time magazine’s top 50 U.S. photographers to follow on Instagram, Mr. Burke divides his time between personal art projects and commissioned work. A New England native, he currently lives in Rhode Island with his wife and their three daughters, Clover Lee, Poppy Dee, and Honey Bee. He received his MFA from Rhode Island School of Design, where he is a faculty member, and his BFA from the University of Arizona. 

“‘Wild & Precious Things’ brings together treasures from a series of road trips traveled with my three daughters to explore the natural world and get more in touch with the earth,” said Mr. Burke. “I use these adventures to encourage a connection between my children and nature and to give them an education that I consider essential—one that develops appreciation, respect, conservation, and self-confidence. Together we document and collect objects from the routes we drive, the landscapes we discover, the creatures we encounter, and even the roadside motels where we sleep. This work reveals the fragile, complicated relationship that humans share with nature and attempts to strengthen those bonds.”

“What Gorgeous Thing” runs through March 28.