Arizona – Sonora Desert Museum: Forces of Nature

Lorraine A. DarConte is a photographer who spent much of the pandemic lockdown in Santa Barbara, CA, stalking the local fauna with her camera; taking full advantage of the mild weather and the county’s expansive spaces, spectacular shoreline, serene bird sanctuaries and muddy marshes. In these natural spaces she encountered peace, solitude, a smattering of masked humans, and a whole lot of funky-looking, sometimes common and occasionally exotic birds—snowy egrets, gulls, sandpipers, pelicans, black-necked stilts and more. Spending over a year in relative isolation, photographing and manipulating hundreds of photographs, DarConte re-imagined images, to amuse, inform, and help raise awareness of the natural world and promote conservation.

Lorraine A. DarConte studied art and photography at C.W. Post College in New York with renowned photographer Arthur Leipzig. She moved to Tucson, Arizona, in 1998 where she owned/operated a wedding photography business for 10 years. In 2015, DarConte relocated to Santa Barbara, CA, where she focused her camera on the local environment and marine life. In 2022, she returned to Tucson and has added ceramics to her repertoire.