[From the brochure for my show at UCONN, Fall 2009:]

"Photography is a strong tool, a propaganda device, and a weapon for the defense of the environment...and therefore for the fostering of a healthy human race and even very likely for its survival."
-- Eliot Porter

G. Leslie Sweetnam lived in the “quiet corner” of Eastern Connecticut for 20 years before he flew over it.  “I thought I knew the area,” he says. “I had hiked, worked on my town's conservation commission, and taken back roads whenever possible, but the view from the air was a revelation. 

I knew the roads, the topography, the geological history, but I was amazed at the extent of the unbroken forests, the network of swamps, streams and rivers, the centuries-old villages and the active farms collected on the best agricultural soils.”

 Wanting to share these visions with neighbors who make irrevocable decisions about how this area changes, Sweetnam started taking pictures. His images offer wider views and different angles than those we experience on our roads. Some are impressionistic, their patterns intriguing but incomprehensible at first look. “Some of them still give me vertigo,” he says, “but no Dramamine is required to view this exhibit.” 

Sweetnam’s images have been used in campaigns by groups that share his concerns, including the Audubon Society, the Nature Conservancy, the American Farmland Trust, and the Last Green Valley, whose director recently said, “[Leslie’s] beautiful images of our region...are helping each and every day to communicate how special the valley is and why it is so important to use this precious and brief opportunity we have to keep it intact."

The following are links:

Artist Statement

The more extensive Photo Interview page, my exposition on the craft, the art, the reason, the politics

Exhibitions, past and future,

Some of my favorite quotes from the masters about photography and the aerial view.

The Art Gallery, thirty-two of my favorites

Click here to view over a thousand images of farms, towns, rivers and forests of the Quinebaug-Shetucket Heritage Corner arranged by town, also links to a page of photos taken in the Westfield and Deerfield watersheds in the Berkshire Hills, a page of photos from the CT/RI coast, a flight up the Blackstone River and some collections taken at 5' Above Ground Level.

Reprint prices and rates for custom aerial photos.

A gallery of photos taken for a power company of new construction at their plant - a single fly-around, 24 hi-res images on CD for $200.

Links to websites concerned with preserving and enhancing the natural, cultural, historical and agricultural wealth of the Quinebaug-Shetucket Heritage Corridor.

The Baring Witness photos

A selection of photos with content unique to the aerial perspective.