Life in the Oxbow

A multimedia series exploring the biodiversity, transformation, and quiet vitality of oxbow lakes.

Formed when a river bends and breaks from itself, oxbows are the elegant scars of a waterway’s change—curved remnants of movement, memory, and adaptation. Though disconnected from their parent stream, these crescent-shaped wetlands become some of the most ecologically rich and dynamic habitats on the landscape.

Life in the Oxbow is a visual and narrative exploration of these often-overlooked ecosystems. Through photography, species profiles, and short reflective essays, this series celebrates the amphibians, mussels, birds, aquatic plants, and microbial life that thrive in the still, fertile waters of oxbow lakes. It also reflects on transformation as a condition for life—how disconnection can foster diversity, and how habitats in flux often carry the most resilience.

Told from the banks of restored and wild oxbows in the Great Lakes and Upper Ohio River basins, this series invites viewers to consider the value of places that hold still while the world rushes on—and the beauty that emerges from the bends we don’t resist.

Digital Photo-journal coming Winter 2025