From the time I was about a year and half old until age 13, my family lived in a state park on a lake in South Texas. My father was the superintendent of the park and we lived in the residence there.

As a kid, the park was really my own, huge backyard. I enjoyed, with child-like excitement, roaming and exploring the park, especially the undeveloped areas. And there was a lot of wild territory outside the cleared, established campgrounds and picnic areas.

I wondered through thick brush exploring dry creek beds, game trails, small natural isolated fields, and the caliche cliffs along the lake. I climbed old, knarled and huge Mesquite trees to look over the low canopy of the brush (we called the thick, scrubby woods in the area brush). I was always on some sort of adventure to explore a dark, deep creek bed or through some natural tunnel in the foliage leading deep into the brush.

Growing up in the park allowed me to develop an intense love for nature. After moving from the park, I continued to enjoy the outdoors through frequent hiking, camping, or hunting trips.

In the past 5 years, I've used my photographic skills to document and capture my outdoor journeys (in and ouside of Texas) for the purpose of sharing with others. In 2005, I realized that the natural resources of my home state were a most suitable photo project that fit my interests and photographic purposes.

This project is ongoing, and I will continue to explore and photograph the wild places of Texas!

Best regards,
TJ Avery
May 2008

* Please also see my Visions of Big Bend and High Lonesome photography projects for more Texas content.

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