When an icefield expands toward a change in elevation, an icefall begins to form. Ever so slowly and with unimaginable weight, the descending ice begins to change properties and the white of ice and snow is transformed into an indescribable molten blue. Who has not yet seen images of retreating glaciers and crashing ice shelves, both beautiful and haunting?

At the end of 2015, I was entering into a new chapter in my career. I needed an artistic project to sustain me as I entered work that might crush my creativity without sufficient reserves. A deep ache was inside me, even as I prepared for the work ahead. I felt a need for a pilgrimage, a return to a spiritual anchor.

I wanted to orient myself to a true north. I invited one of my best friends, Jill, to embark with me on a trip around the Ring Road in Iceland. I vividly remember our first glacier walk. I wanted to fall through a crevasse, travel through space and time, and emerge in a blue heaven where everything was known, possible, and supported by visible and invisible creatures. When we rounded the matte black cliffs with verdant ledges topped by ice sheets holding clouds, and there was the bay of Jökulsárlón, I knew that cyan dreams would not go away. I knew it was a privilege to be there at that moment, when it feels like everything is disappearing, but the energy I felt gave me a hope that I had to share. I turned to my camera to tell that story.

After Iceland, over the next four years, I charted two more expeditions along what I began referring to as my Arc of Blue. With periodic ground support from loved ones and friends, I spent a month in the North American Rockies with two weeks in the southern mountain ranges of Alaska. Preparing for this project, I also took several vehicle assisted and backpacking trips in alpine conditions to improve my photographic vision and my comfort with remote and cold mountain conditions.

I have so much gratitude for my collaborators Jill Sourial, Helen Leung, Francis Engler, Sheridan Horning, and the magical Arctic fox who joined us on the ice. Ground support from Angel Orozco at Overland Coffee Company. Additional thanks to Icelandic Mountain Guides, Glacier Lagoon, The Alpine Club of Canada, Skoki Lodge, Major Marine Tours, St. Alias Alpine Guides, Wrangell Mountain Air, and MICA Guides.