Road Trip Turns into Epic Adventure in Nature for Photographer-Daughter Duo

What you're seeing is a little girl forming unbreakable connections with nature, and growing up in the process.

This is the story of Jesse Burke and his daughter Clover. From 2010 to 2015, Burke brought his oldest daughter with him on road trips. He bonded with her while she bonded with nature. The result has been compiled in a breathtaking photo book and artful film.

Why did you decide to start this project? Why turn it into a book?Burke: Truth be told, this project started by accident. Clover and I were on a road trip to document the landscape of Maine for a different body of work and slowly she made her way into the frame. Upon looking at the images with her I realized that I might be onto something. I took some time to conceptualize exactly what I was doing and, before long, I started the project in earnest.

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The moment I had my first child I knew that it was my responsibility to make her a loving and compassionate person. Isn't that all we can hope for in our children? I used these journeys as an opportunity not only to bond with her but also as a means of instilling in her a deep and profound personal connection with the natural world. So, stumbling upon this project was really ideal for me.

For me turning this project into a book allows it to live in an idealized state ... I can take you on the journey with us. As you look through the book and come across the pictures, it's as if you're traveling with us around the country to the locations and looking at and experiencing the things we experience. It's really ideal for me in that way.

The first picture you see in the book is an image of Clover sleeping and the last picture you see is an image of Clover sleeping, so in a way the entire arch of the book is a dream. The book form really allows me to organize the delivery of the project to the viewer and set the stage. I love that about the book-making process.

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How has your daughter changed since you two began your road trip adventures? How have you changed?Yes, absolutely, we have both changed. It's been an amazing adventure to watch her grow into this preteen, confident, strong but still childlike, independent person.

It's so beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time to watch her get older and become more mature. At least for me it's heartbreaking. I will always long for the days of her youth where she needed her daddy.

But I am proud of the person that she's becoming. These trips have certainly contributed to the person that she is. She's become more understanding and participatory in the process of making the artwork. In the beginning I acted as a director, and now we work as a real collaborative team. Picking locations, clothing, situations, stance together. This has become the most fun part for me. And in a way that's how I've changed.

I've allowed myself to loosen my grip over her as a father and loosen my grip over the creative process as a director. I have become part of a team, which wasn't what I expected when I started this project or possibly ever expected as an artist. But now it's my favorite part collaborating with my daughter, this project and that bond we share is an amazing part of my life.

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What has she enjoyed most?I think if you asked her what she enjoys most about this adventure is the fact that we have a "special thing" that we share just between us and that we get to go out to these amazing locations and explore the world together. We look for animals, study the landscape, hike, and just enjoy each other's company. I think the bond that has developed throughout this process is the thing that she enjoys the most. It certainly is the thing that I enjoy the most. 

What has been the biggest challenge?Personally for me, the biggest challenge was getting over the fact that I was working with my child. In the beginning it was very hard for me to have the patience to work with my daughter and to photograph her.

I come from a background of photographing adults and having them listen to everything I said. When I started to work with my daughter it was the opposite of everything I had experienced. She did what she wanted, more or less, and her patience was a very short,  as was mine. It took me some time to get over that hurdle.

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What was the most memorable moment during these outings for you? What was your favorite place you visited?

I think one of the most memorable moments of these outings was when we were hiking in the Hoh Rain Forest on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. We were standing on the edge of a stream, it was lightly snowing and very grey out. I was photographing Clover looking out over the river and as I backed up to the farthest point away from her, a very large bull elk jumped out of the woods on the other side of the river from where she was and started swimming right towards her.

She didn't see the elk and the elk didn't see her, but I saw them both and got very afraid. I froze to see what would happen, just then the elk looked up and saw Clover, he then turned around and swim back to the spot that he had jumped from. He leaped out of the water and back into the woods. This was a very large creature and it made me very nervous for a moment.

Oftentimes, we come up against the edge of what I perceive as possible danger and then we straddle that edge back-and-forth. Sometimes on the safe side, sometimes on the dangerous side. I think that's healthy for children to experience, as long as in the end they are safe and sound.

For me that was my favorite place I visited and one of the best moments of my life. One of the scariest and most amazing.

What advice would you give other parents who want to instill a love for nature in their children as well?The best advice I could give to a parent that wants to instill a love for nature in their children is to take the time to get them outside. It's a very simple, it doesn't have to be a far-off destination or somewhere exotic. Many of the images in my book were shot in my backyard or down the street from where we live. I think what's most important is to make it a priority for both of you to get outside and experience it.

Be sure to connect and talk with one another while you're out there, learn and study together. Look up, look down, and touch. Don't be afraid to touch things. Pick them up, smell them, feel them. This way we can create a bond between the parents and the child but also between the parents in the world and the child in the world.

That really is the underlying objective for me in many ways, to create those experiences with my children. It is my hope the other parents will want to have the same objectives in their lives and do some of the same things.

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Any notable weather-related stories from your outdoor expeditions?As you can imagine, the weather was a huge part of our life when we were out there on the road. 

There is one photograph of a factory spewing steam out into the clouds that has always stuck out in my mind as important one related to the weather. I was facing away from the factory shooting a baseball diamond and my daughter was tugging on my shirt and saying, "Daddy, daddy, is that where they make clouds?"

I quickly turned around to see the factory and the clouds in this beautiful and disgusting scene of intertwined steam and clouds. We stopped for a minute and talked about what they were doing at the factory, how clouds worked, and how the cycles of rain worked. It was an awesome moment that my daughter picked out of the world, one that I would've simply walked right past. That is always stood out as a moment where I could teach her about how the cycles of nature how we as humans have an impact on those cycles.

Another weather-related phenomenon we love and would often see is rainbows. Rainbows for me represent the whimsical and playfulness of childhood and youth, but also they represent the magic of nature. Rainbows are so incredibly unique and magical that we can't help but be wowed by them every time we see them. There are many different types of scenarios where rainbows with pop into our life. So much, in fact, that I decided to include a rainbow theme in my exhibitions. I have the frames of the images painted in the colors of the rainbow and hung sequentially on the wall so the viewer can experience similar feelings to how they would if they were seeing an actual rainbow.

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Now that the project has wrapped up, Burke says it's on to the next chapter.

"I've opened the window for the little ones to start poking into the frame, and they come in at the most amazing moments, where Clover is sharing the knowledge and I've bestowed upon her to her little sisters," he says. "In fact, the last picture in the book is a picture of Clover and Poppy walking out of the frame into the fog, it's meant to represent the next chapter, and the evolution, of our lives and their education in the wild."

Clover and all of Burke's daughters have a life of outdoor adventures ahead of them. In fact, they're planning the next one now.

To see more of Burke's photography, check out his website. To buy the book, head over to the "Wild & Precious" shop.