On the Plains

When Peter Brown began to photograph the Great Plains, he started a journey that would take him over a dozen years and many thousands of miles to complete. Brown's photographs make a careful study of the land and sky of the Plains, and of the people who inhabit its towns and cities, showing us the endless variations of color, light, mood, and character that can be found there. In Brown's portraits we see the Plains in all its seasons, an ever-changing landscape of extremes, where weather is a genuine presence and human existence is at once fragile and resilient. These provocative images reveal both the stunning drama and subtle charms of the land and the people of this vast swath of America which includes the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah, Texas, and New Mexico.

Peter Brown has received numerous fellowships and his work is included in many collections, including that of the Museum of Modern Art. He lives in Houston, Texas.

Kathleen Norris is the author of Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, The Cloister Walk, and Amazing Grace.