Camille Seaman: The Big Cloud

Terminal 3

Aug 07, 2015 - Oct 31, 2015

Clouds are a beautiful metaphor. They are so ethereal; they cannot be touched but you can see them. You can watch them as they form from ‘nothing’ and grow and rage and boom and sparkle. They rain or snow or blow and nourish and destroy; they create and build; they damage and flood.

—Camille Seaman

Camille Seaman: The Big Cloud

San Francisco Bay Area photographer and adventurer Camille Seaman, primarily known for her compelling documentation of the rapidly changing landscapes on the earth’s polar regions, became a storm chaser in 2008 at the suggestion of her then-eight-year-old daughter. Seaman continuous her exploration of the natural world by stalking supercell storm clouds, which span fifty miles, reach 65,000 feet into the atmosphere, and produce grapefruit-size hail and tornadoes. Her work profoundly illustrates the interconnectedness of all life on the planet. She is committed to capturing photographs that demonstrate the importance of recognizing the relationship between humans and the natural surroundings.

Seaman speaks about The Big Cloud series in this way: I want these pictures to raise awareness of this extreme kind of weather—not necessarily in a fearful way, but in an awesome way. I want people to know how magnificent and powerful our planet really is. Beauty is important to me: I know most people don’t ever get to see the things that I get to see, so for now, I just want people to realize how awesome our planet really is.

Camille Seaman earned a BA degree in fine-art photography from the State University of New York, Purchase. Seaman, a TED and a Stanford University Knight Fellow, is the recipient of a National Geographic Award and the Critical Mass Top Monograph Award. Seaman’s photographs have been exhibited at the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.; World Affairs Council, San Francisco; Hoopers Gallery, London; and Candace Dwan Gallery, New York. Her publications include work in National Geographic, The Oprah Magazine, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The New York Times, Newsweek, CNN, TIME, Outside, Zeit Wissen, and Men’s Journal.

The Lovely Monster Over the Farm, Lodge Pole, Nebraska

Hail Shaft with Hailbow, Gurley, Nebraska

And the Sun It Shines Through, Crawford, Texas

Gallery Map