The land, creeks, and rivers of Orange and Alamance Counties in North Carolina have been the core of my photographic work for the last decade. With creeping subdivisions snipping away at farmland and open fields year by year, I feel this work of photographing them has taken on a documentary element I did not intend.

I create images using vintage large and medium format film cameras, printing and developing in a traditional wet darkroom. Using a large nineteenth-century camera creates a need for going slow—for being intentional. I photograph places I have walked for years, with an insider’s knowledge of what can be found where, and what times of day or year are best for capturing a particular spot’s beauty. I am moved by the sensory experience sky and open fields provide, the waterways and forests they support.

Holden Richards is a traditional large format film photographer and native North Carolinian currently residing in Hillsborough. Inspired by primarily by walking the creeks and rivers of Orange, and Durham Counties, these locations and subjects predominate his photographic work. He has studied view camera and alternative printing at Penland School of Crafts.