Rural bliss... or despairing desolation? Photographer captures the beautiful vastness of farmlands across America's north-west

Lisa Wood created the stunning composite images from photos taken in the Palouse grasslands

Each image is made up of around 30 different frames to make the final print appear hyper-detailed




These magnificent, undulating hills are reminiscent of a scene from a science fiction programme, but for the one or two traces of human influence.

And indeed, the haunting landscapes are not entirely the work of nature, as they have been tweaked and overlaid to emphasise the stark vastness of the almost-uninhabited landscape.



These images of the Palouse Grasslands, in rural Washington state, were painstakingly harvested over a period of days, then overlaid on one another to give the sharpest and most stunning quality to the whole area of the image.



Dramatic: A single farmhouse sits in the centre of a rolling vista, while a rich red sunset can be seen in the distance

Vast: A resting peacock looks over the fields. Aside from the tracks of farm machinery, there is no sign of human activity

Cloudscape: A solitary house is dwarfed by the huge hill behind it, and an even larger collection of towering clouds

Lisa Wood, a photographer from neighbouring Idaho, took the snaps during extended visits driving around the Palouse region's dirt roads. Each picture is made of of 30 different images, which focus on a particular aspect, such as the crest of a hill, a portion of the sky, or an individual plant. These can then be stitched together to make large images which capture each aspect personally.

The moody quality of the sprawling Steptoe Butte national park was then enhanced by Ms Wood, who used Photoshop to tweak the colours and infuse the scenes with her own imagination.

All of the pictures shown in her 'Art of Farmland' series were taken within a 100-mile radius within the Palouse area - known for its fertile soil.

Ms Wood, in her 40s, would drive for up to 12 hours to find the perfect vantage point for her images.



She said: 'I begin with very good raw material and transform it into something from my imagination. My artistic style is Abstract Realism, bridging the gap between completely abstract and realist styles.'

Calm: Photographer Lisa Wood said she is attracted to the wide, open spaces of the region

Windswept: The pictures are made by a compilation of more than 30 photographs each

Painstaking: Ms Wood would drive around the desolate Palouse area for 12 hours a day identifying the perfect shot

'I am using photography and my imagination to create unexpected rural panoramas to remind the viewer of a time when natural observation was inescapable. My hope is that the viewer pauses for a moment, feels something, wonders, asks a question.



'I am exploring the question of what is our relationship with the natural world in the age of information and technology. We live in a time of information overload… information is being lobbed at us like never before, creating an undercurrent of urgency.

'However, as our society becomes more removed from the natural world, we are also becoming aware of it. Most of the feedback I get on my work is very sentimental and heart-felt from people who are reminded of their childhoods. I love that.

' I create wide open farmscapes with occasionally something surprising. The peacock, for example, is an ongoing theme for me in this series. Symbolizing immortality, the peacock reminds us that the natural world is eternal while the things created by man are not.

'When I do incorporate something man-made, it illustrates decay. Personally, I am drawn to big empty spaces… spaces where I can just breathe and be.'



Project: Lisa Wood, right, would drive for as much as twelve hours a day to find the perfect scenes for her photograph project, such as the one pictured left



Moody: This stirring evening scene is given a focal point by a V-shaped tree