Posted on 06/14/09 at 11:22 PM

If you find yourself driving through Illinois this summer on I-80 and find  yourself craving a wine slushy about halfway across the state, take exit 81 to Utica, IL and stop by August Hill Winery. While the non-drivers indulge themselves in a surprisingly tart, refreshing slushy you can enjoy 10 of my photos alongside work from five other Illinois artists.

In case you don’t find yourself at August Hill before the end of August, here are the photos on display there in all their digital glory. You can also find the accompanying artist statement at the end.

Pratt Beach, Lake Michigan 6:25 am

Hengrave Hall, England, 10:37 am

Sapa, Vietnam, 8:51 am

Ha Long bay, Vietnam, 4:41 pm

La Colorada, Colombia, 9:24 am

Temple of Literature, Vietnam, 1:40 pm

Dead Man’s Island, Skagit Bay, 6:21 pm

Pratt Beach, Lake Michigan, 7:54 pm

Coleus, Chicago, 12:59 pm

Back alley, Chicago, 2:19 pm

Artist Statement

Tim Nafziger was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He started taking photos when he was in elementary school with a little yellow plastic camera that he won in a sweepstakes (only $12.95 for shipping and handling). A tulip poplar blossom on the roof of the garage is the first artsy photo he remembers taking. When he moved to Indiana in eighth grade, his art teacher loaned him his 35 mm camera for a week and he discovered the glorious world of lenses, f-stop and shutter speed. After the photos made it into the junior high’s permanent collection, he was hooked.

Throughout high school and college, his love of photograph grew as he learned to work in the darkroom just as it became obsolete, and he bought his first 35 mm film camera just as they too went the way of the Dodo. After college he lived in London for two years and had the chance to take his camera with him through the countryside of England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Colombia.

Tim states, “I experience the urge to photograph as a constant presence as I wander everywhere, from the back alley behind my home in Chicago, to the mountains of Vietnam. When the sun nears the horizon and the light turns everything a golden hue my urge to pull out the camera becomes unbearable.” Fortunately his tiny Dimage Xg has spent years living in his pocket for just such moments. Many a romantic walk with his wife, Charletta, has been interrupted by the light glinting on a tree branch just so. Fortunately, Tim’s obsession with photography means that many of those photogenic moments are preserved here for your enjoyment!