I was looking for disaster photos to help me in my final project (CERT photo book) and found Matt Clark. He's not a "disaster" photographer but he has a flickr account with lots of storm, cloud and landscape images.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33980086@N06/
* I don't have any examples of his work because they are protected
I have always been fascinated by tornadoes. Its more of a love/hate relationship...I am in awe at the complexity and power of a tornado but when the sky gets dark and the sirens go off I am in panic mode. I love watching those storm chaser shows but I hate that I hope they filmed a "good" one because it usually means people were hurt, killed or lost everything. Joplin was devastating and I pray a tornado like that never hits near my home. But I just can't deny the curiosity of seeing a tornado.
There are also images of lighting storms. I remember seeing an image of a lighting strike in my great Uncle Bobby's garage when I was a teenager and staring at it wondering how in the world he got that picture. He must have been pretty lucky to have taken a picture just as it was striking. It had an usual arch, from what I can remember. Knowing a little bit about night photography now, I am still amazed he took that image. I wonder if its still hanging in his garage. I would ask him if it is and how took it but he passed away a few years ago. It makes me sad because its the first image I can remember looking at and thinking how cool it would be to become a photographer. So thanks Matt Clark, for reminding me of a sweet memory of my Uncle.
Matt also has images of fire. Thats purely a hate thing for me. I remember waking up in the middle of the night at age 12 to the sound of loud booms, like gun shots, caused by a neighbors gas cans exploding. Their son tossed cigarette butts in the corner of the garage and it lit the house on the fire. We stood on the corner, in PJ's and bathrobes and watched it burn down. No one was hurt, but I had nightmares after that for months and months. And then as an adult, when I lived in Redlands, CA, there were devastating fires in the mountains behind us (Highland, San Bernardino) for days and days. We weren't in danger of the fire, but the smoke poured down the valley and covered the freeway. The air was thick and dark and filled your lungs. So many people lost their homes. I worked in a restaurant and met some of those people and it was heartbreaking. I have a picture that I took from my church parking lot of the mountains on fire, but its not digital so I dont have it right now, but I found the one below which is similar. Those aren't so sweet memories! It scares me to think my children could be trapped by a fire or we could lose all of irreplaceable photos because of fire. I'm thankful to be able to cook my meat and stay warm, but other than that I hate fire.
Lastly, he has snowy images of Exeter and other places that remind me of my childhood in Idaho. The wind would blow in Rexburg, creating huge snow drifts my brothers and I would turn into snow forts. It was so much fun and I cherish those memories! Now all we get in St Louis are ice storms and when it snows we have to gather all the snow from our yard and the neighbors just to make a snowman. Hopefully my kids will remember it with fondness...And there's just something refreshing and pure about the world right after the snow has fallen. All the yuckiness left after fall is covered up and it feels untouched. Its what I love about the snow.
Matt's images certainly evoke a lot of memories for me, but they are also great from a professional point of view. They are clear in the details and the coloring is spot on. It can be hard to get a great image in a storm because of the lighting, the scene changes so quickly and you can "lose the moment", its often rainy and its not safe to be setting up a tripod when a tornado is forming! And lightning is hard to predict and requires a lot of patience and luck. His snow images aren't too bright or washed out. He includes enough detail to make it more than just an image and I like the variety of his scenery.
