Individuals can share art through many different forms, mediums and varieties, but one form of art is always available by just walking outside — the art found in nature.
Nature resembles art in a magnitude of ways, and many artists said they pull their inspiration from nature to create art. Students said they connect with nature and see its beauty every day, especially in Malibu.
“You always know that the world is beautiful around you,” junior Noah Wahamaki said. “But just having the awareness to actually seek out beautiful things in nature is where I take my focus in photography.”
Wahamaki has been taking photos for as long as he can remember, but in his junior year of high school, he got his first film camera, and he said that changed the game for him. Since then, he has focused his film photography on nature, specifically taking pictures of the ocean and the beach.
“We’re surrounded by really beautiful nature,” Wahamaki said. “And so, being able to capture that and share that with other people is kind of full circle to start building more awareness of what’s beautiful around us.”
Senior Courtney Hancock also has been interested in photography since she was little but said she got into film photography two years ago, when her mom gave her a film camera, and she brought it to Malibu to take photos of her friends.
“Because of how beautiful Malibu is, I consequently began capturing landscapes,” Hancock said.
Hancock started a business called The Darkroom Shop to sell her landscapes shortly after making the site. The Darkroom Shop is focused on showing the raw beauty of the natural world and seeing God’s creation through Hancock’s lens, according to The Darkroom Shop’s About page.
“The more I saw the magnificence of how film was able to capture natural scenes, the more immersed I became in photography,” Hancock said.
Hancock said she focuses her photography on the beach and mountains in Malibu but also takes her camera with her when she travels back home to the mountains in Colorado, visits the beaches in Hawaii or sees the wildlife in Montana.
While Hancock said she has considered switching to digital photography, she believes film makes her slow down and fully capture a moment in the natural world.
“There is so much beauty that exists in nature as it is,” Hancock said. “My goal when capturing scenes is to preserve each landscape and moment as God created it.”
Hancock said she tries to do as little post-production work as possible with her photos because she tries to make her photos portray exactly how she felt when she was taking them — seeing beauty in nature in some form or fashion.
“Art through photos means the process of preserving what is already beautiful,” Hancock said.
Even if a student isn’t practicing art, it’s still easy to see art every day when going outside. Senior Natalie Alderton does just that and said she makes it a point every day to go outside and recenter her day.
“I just feel so much peace when I’m outside,” Alderton said. “I feel like that’s where I really connect with God’s creation.”
Alderton loves to surf and hike in Malibu, and she said these two activities allow her to connect with her faith and with nature.
“To me, God is the artist of nature,” Alderton said. “I see all of his characteristics exemplified in nature.”
Surfing and hiking both allow Alderton to slow down and soak up the beauty of nature.
“When I’m out surfing, and I see a beautiful sunset painted and all of these colors, to me, it’s just another medium for God to paint the world,” Alderton said.
Even though Alderton said she isn’t an artist herself, she said she recognizes how art is based on nature in several mediums. She said all of the art she sees is based on the beauty of nature.
“Nature is also the basis on which we compare all other beautiful things,” Alderton said. “Like painting or music — so much is inspired by nature and the world around us.”
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Contact Abby Wilt via Twitter (@abby_wilt) or by email: abby.wilt@pepperdine.edu
