Deluge: The Flood Project (2015 - 2018)

In 2015, a slow moving storm system dropped tremendous precipitation across Texas, causing the local Cross Timbers landscape to become otherworldly as the surface of the lake rose precipitously and then hovered at the level of the forest canopy for several months. The long-term flooding in the river corridor caused major disruptions to the ecosystem.

When the waters eventually receded, beaver gnaw marks on trees traced the changing height of the lake surface, white powdery residue revealed the waterline of the submerged landscape, and Eastern Red Cedars became gray skeletons, to be replaced by plants whose seeds were introduced by the flood waters. 

I photographed this area from the waters’ edge, from a boat, and by wading into the floodwaters themselves for more than 3 years, tracking the changes in the landscape during the floods and their aftermaths. Canoeing deep into the flooded forest canopy, 4 x 7 ft. sheets of paper were suspended for several weeks at a time to create hydrographs that directly recorded the water height. (For more information on the hydrographs, please see the Deluge: Hydrographs page.)