bill rives photography

The Sierra de la Gigante is part of the vast Sonoran desert wilderness of Mexico. Sandstone bands across the mountains tell the story of time for this ancient earth. The dense, impenetrable thickets of cactus here offer shelter and protection to birds and small animals who live in this harsh land.

There is beauty and grace in the patterns of industrial design that serve utilitarian purpose.

Passage across the Luangwa River can be treacherous due to the dense concentrations of hippos found here. At night they travel miles overland to forage on leafy plants before the sun rises. Weighing 4,000 pounds with 20 inch long teeth and the most powerful bite in the animal kingdom, hippos are seldom bothered by lions on their nightly forays.

For the first two million years of our species, stone axe heads are the sole relics of human industry as our ancestors migrated across continents and oceans to populate the Earth. Today we produce relics at a dizzying pace as change becomes the defining theme of the modern world. Some provide only a brief reminder of our past while others may endure for millennia. What will the future make of this time from the things we leave behind?

Like a phalanx of Roman infantry, a herd of Cape buffalo strides confidently across the African veldt. With massive horns that can toss fully grown lions into the air, these powerful beasts gather their young in the center of the herd, shielding them against danger. When one is attacked, all respond as a community.

In the cool air of autumn we hear the honks and cries of waterfowl as they begin their long journey south. it is a poignant reminder of W.B. Yeats’ poem “The Wild Swans at Coole” and the quest for lasting beauty in a world of change.

The great Zambezi River flows for thousands of miles across the African continent. In the lower Zambezi, where the river forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, it is one of the wildest places on Earth, with huge concentrations of hippos and crocodiles in the water and lion prides prowling its banks. None but elephants can safely cross here.

Winter is the time when trees reveal themselves most fully.

These seals sun in a state of quiet repose, while the water beneath them brims with hungry hammerhead sharks.

We view the world through the prism of our perceptual capabilities. What would we see if our powers were greater?

The streets of the world have been a rich source of inspiration for masters such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Gary Winogrand. Vivian Maier, who is now acclaimed as one of the 20th century’s finest photographers, worked completely unknown for decades and was only discovered in 2007 after her death when her remarkable images of Chicago street life were discovered in a thrift auction house.

Glacier Bay is spectacular, a vast wilderness of deep fjords and immense glaciers. This rich ecosystem is home to a great diversity of birds, animals and plant species. Sadly, its glaciers are rapidly receding and may be gone forever in the next 50 years as a heating climate melts water that has been frozen for thousands of years.

The bright plumage of these rainforest birds differs from the dark feathers of those who live in the dim light of the lower forest. There, they must rely on their voices to attract potential mates.

Graffiti embellishes the brickwork of this classically inspired industrial building, abandoned to the requirements of newer technologies.

The Corcovado National Park is accessible only by small boat from the Pacific Ocean or by plane. We put ashore through the surf as salt water crocodiles rode the wave crests nearby.

Lapa Rios overlooks the Golfo Dulce in Costa Rica. Its forest floor teems with leaf cutter ants, poison dart frogs, and countless other small species. It is home to the deadly fer de lance, jaguars, and three-toed sloths. Thought to be the slowest mammals, sloths move with stately grace as they make their way through the rainforest canopy.

Only a short ferry ride from Seattle, Vashon Island is a world apart from the torrid pace of modern city life. Here, artists and craftspeople carry on their work, famers till the soil, and a sense of community binds all.

The ocean’s edge is where the greatest transformation in life occurred, some 400 million years ago, when the first prehistoric fish crawled ashore. We are drawn to this line where the last frontier on Earth begins by the beauty and awe of nature in its most elemental form.

Heat grips like a vise in the red river valley.

Above the tree line Mt. Rainier becomes a magical world of snow and ice shimmering under a midnight moon.

For millennia, sculptors have worked in marble, a metamorphic rock with a soft, easy-to-carve structure and translucent surface. Some of the first examples of its use in art appear in Mesopotamia, centuries before the Greeks and Romans modeled exquisitely realistic portraits in this medium.

Eastern Zambia is one of the greatest wildlife sanctuaries in Africa. Its mopane woodlands and savannas are home to a huge diversity of animal and plant species. Here, visitors may travel on foot, becoming themselves part of the natural environment.

What does a multiverse look like?

The space between

Shadows obscure and transform.