The Big Cloud

Camille Seaman’s clouds have been storming around in my mind for several years, since I first met her at a review. I was excited to see them come together in her new monograph, ​“The Big Cloud.” The book sweeps across the plains, driving with storm chasers through pages of ominous clouds. The pacing is gradual, and it mirrors the experience of the long chase, sitting by the van, waiting and anticipating.

When the gathering clouds do climax, prepare to be in awe; the tornadoes are daunting in their scale and repetition. Perhaps there are a few too many images in the book, and the escalation to the more dramatic photographs takes a while, but this also gives the story its integrity.

Seaman understands the relationship between man and nature to be a continuum. If the tornadoes are creative and destructive forces, those forces are a part of us to. On her website, she uses rather poetic observations to title some of the works: ​“The Lovely Monster” and ​“The Beast, It Grows and Consumes All Daylight.” In the book, these have been omitted in favor of short, informational titles. I favor her imaginative voice, but there’s plenty of her writing to be found in her statements at the beginning of the book. She’s honest and engaging, and it’s worth a read.

Seaman’s wide lens stretches outside the safety of the manmade and the concrete. She invites us to communicate with the brilliant, shifting powers of natural forces beyond human control. I encourage you to sit down with the book and prepare for a slow-brewing encounter with something terrible and sublime.

​‘The Big Cloud’ by Camille Seaman published by Princeton Architectural Press, 2018

camilleseaman​.com