Rough Rock, Arizona

Notom, Utah

In a convergence of science and nature, Washington, D.C. photographer Jim Sanborn sets both alight in striking, massive scale in his series Typographic Projections and Implied Geometries. Shot across the western United States and parts of Ireland, Sanborn projects his complex formations on everything from desert mountains to seascapes, each long exposure created with a 200 pound homemade projector and a 4×5 camera.

Conducting multiple experiments in warehouses beforehand, Sanborn’s light works are highly calculated long-range projections upon specific landscapes, each superimposing some mathematical concept on the architecture of the earth. Because of the sheer size of the chosen landmasses, projections were frequently conducted from half a mile away, sometimes additionally lit with search lights and generators. Often mistaken for a composite or computer generation, the series functions as a tangible converging of elements, highlighting unseen but ever-present aspects of the scientific and the organic united as one.

Bandon, Oregon II

Horse Valley, Utah IV

Kilkee County Claire, Ireland

Cainville, Utah

Green River, Utah