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This Photographer Captures The Hidden Patterns That Make Nature Look Like Art (20 Images)
Jon McCormack’s photography is often framed to make you look closer, and then closer again. The Australian-born conservation and natural history photographer grew up surrounded by the stark landscapes of the Australian Outback, where life among sheep, cattle, drought, dust, and open space helped shape his respect for nature’s resilience and fragility. That early attention to the quiet details of the bush eventually grew into a body of work that moves between the microscopic and the monumental, revealing patterns, textures, and hidden structures that often go unnoticed.
In his images, wild places are not treated simply as scenery, but as living systems full of rhythm and connection. McCormack photographs everything from mineral formations, ice, rivers, coastlines, and aerial landscapes to wildlife and remote ecosystems, showing how nature repeats certain shapes and movements across wildly different scales. His first monograph, “Patterns: Art of the Natural World,” explores exactly this idea, tracing Earth’s “hidden geometry” across continents, from microscopic mineral blooms to vast aerial compositions. The book’s release this year coincided with Earth Day (22 April), with all proceeds benefiting Vital Impacts, a nonprofit founded by photographer Ami Vitale.
Scroll down to see Jon McCormack’s photography, and don’t forget to vote for the images that made you pause and look twice.
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McCormack’s work is also closely tied to conservation. He has spent decades working with conservation organizations, Indigenous communities, and field researchers, and his images have been used by global organizations to advocate for fragile ecosystems. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a member of The Explorers Club, a founding board member of SeaLegacy, and a co-founder of The Kilgoris Project. His photographs have been featured by publications and organizations including TIME, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, UNESCO, The Guardian, CNN, and The Telegraph.
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#3
Location: Chilkotin River, British Columbia, Canada
Description: “A grizzly bear shakes off water in the Chilkotin River in British Columbia.”
This year, McCormack’s work is also being shown in New York as part of Photoville. His outdoor exhibition, “Elements of Wonder: When Nature Becomes Art,” is presented in partnership with the South Street Seaport Museum from April 22 through June 14, 2026. The exhibition draws from the decade-long environmental photography project behind Patterns, bringing together images that move from tiny natural details to sweeping aerial views of rivers, coastlines, and wild landscapes.
#5
Location: Antarctic Peninsula
Description: “A wind carved iceberg floats near the Antarctic Peninsula. The darker blue ice is older than the lighter ice because it is compressed and contains fewer air bubbles.”
#9
Location: Antarctic Peninsula
Description: “An Antarctic Shag (a form of cormorant) in an ice cave on the Antarctic Peninsula.”
#11
Location: Okavango Delta, Botswana
Description: “Lilly Pads in the Okavango Delta in Botswana.”
#12
Location: Okavango Delta, Botswana
Description: “Hippo trails in the Okavango Delta in Botswana.”
#14
Location: Asilomar State Beach, California, USA
#15
Location: Loisaba, Kenya
Description: Close-up of the distinctive plumage of the Vulturine guinea fowl.
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