The shorelines of the Great Lakes vary from landscapes of remote natural wilderness to the man made edges of some of the world’s largest cities. Based on my early memories of growing up in a rural community on Lake Ontario, and drawing on past experiences of photographing landscapes throughout North America, I envisioned this work as a response to the presence, beauty, and history of these large bodies of water. The photographs reveal not only the geological structure of these lakes but also testify to the increasing incursions of urbanism and industry into a fragile environment. Like most, my relationship to these lakes is as varied as it is complex: as a place of work, death, and play, which in turn engenders conflicted responses; a mingling of awe, mystery, fear, longing, melancholy, wonder, bounty, and pleasure. These photographs set out to embody the psychological experience of standing alone at the shore and gazing out at a seemingly endless body of water.