"What Gorgeous Thing" by Jesse Burke & Craig J. Barber
ABOUT “WHAT GORGEOUS THING”
“What Gorgeous Thing” explores two long-term, personal projects of Jesse Burke and Craig J. Barber, where nature and agricultural landscapes become poignant reflections of human experience. Burke’s “Wild & Precious” captures the relationship between land and self, emphasizing the importance of observation and immersion in the natural world to uncover the lessons it affords. In contrast, Barber’s “Farming the Valley” documents the dynamic cultural landscape of agriculture, revealing the beauty and complexity of farming life amidst rapid change. Together, their works offer a narrative that celebrates the interconnectedness of individuals and the land they inhabit.
ABOUT JESSE BURKE
Jesse Burke divides his time between personal art projects and commissioned work. A New
England native, he currently lives in Rhode Island with his wife and their three daughters, Clover
Lee, Poppy Dee, and Honey Bee. He received his MFA from Rhode Island School of Design, where he is a faculty member, and his BFA from the University of Arizona.
Burke’s work deals with themes related to vulnerability and identity, as well as humanity’s complicated relationship with nature. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in the U.S. and abroad, including the Haggerty Museum, the Perth Center for Photography, the Newport Art Museum, the Print Center in Philadelphia, and the Lishui Photo Festival in China, and is held in many private and public collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Photography Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. Burke was recently named one of Time magazine’s top 50 U.S. photographers to follow on Instagram.
ABOUT CRAIG J. BARBER
Craig J. Barber is a Pacific Northwest–based photographer documenting farmers and their work—growing our food. For over thirty years he has focused on the cultural landscape in rapid transition, some fading from memory. Barber works with both contemporary and antiquarian processes. His work has explored Vietnam, Havana, Tuscany, farmers in the Finger Lakes and Catskill Mountain regions of New York and now Skagit Valley in Washington State.
Born in Upstate New York, Barber served in the U.S. Marines for four years, lived in Vermont and Colorado as a ski bum and supported himself as a carpenter in Saskatchewan, Woodstock, and the Pacific Northwest while pursuing his career as a fine art photographer with an eye towards inhabited and ever-changing landscapes. Growing up in small-town America, surrounded by farms and rolling hills, then working amongst craftspeople influenced Barber’s love of the land, the importance of its care and his respect for the folks who do the hard work that sustains us all.
He has taught workshops and lectured throughout the United States, Ireland, Central Europe, and Mexico using alternative cameras and antiquarian processes.
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