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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Barbara Bosworth: The Meadow

Barbara Bosworth, Fall light on the meadow, from the series “The Meadow,” 2003.

465 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA

Barbara Bosworth uses a large-format, 8x10 camera to sleuth out the subtle and spiritual connections between nature and human beings. Her focus is trees, forests, landscapes, birds, wildness, and mystery. Bosworth was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1953, but grew up amid nature. Her projects have names like “The Heavens,” “The Sea,” “One Star and a Dark Voyage,” “Birds and Other Angels.” Her project “The Meadow,” which began in 1996, is the subject of this exhibition at the MFA Boston. With the writer Margot Anne Kelley, Bosworth studied and documented a meadow in Carlisle, Massachusetts, for more than 15 years. This is a time-honored strategy of naturalists, perhaps beginning with Gilbert White in the 1700s, his Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne. You study what is at hand, going deeper and deeper with each passing season. “The Meadow” features a dozen color photographs, rich in detail, native flora and fauna, and ardor. —Laura Jacobs