Lidia Sharapova: Artist in Residence at Donges Bay Gorge Nature Preserve
August 16, 2026 | Topics: featured artist
The Natural Realm presents Lidia Sharapova, who is among 12 artists participating in a year-long residency program called ARTservancy, now in its seventh year. ARTservancy is a collaboration between Gallery 224 in Port Washington and the Restoring Lands Land Trust, Milwaukee Area Land Conservancy, Tall Pines Conservancy, and Lake Michigan Bird Observatory. The mission of ARTservancy is to promote the visionary work of both the artists and conservationists. Each artist has selected a preserve to spend time in and to engage with.
Reflections from the Artist
This year I’ve been working at Donges Bay Gorge, and it’s taught me a lot.
My process there is pretty simple. Before I pick up the camera, I sit and meditate for a while. I let myself settle down and get quiet. Then I start walking, and I photograph whatever catches my eye. I try not to overthink it, not to ask why something is worth shooting or how to make it look good. I just follow what draws my attention and trust it.
That’s harder than it sounds. I’ve spent most of my career learning how to make photos that grab you right away, images that are bold and hard to ignore. That instinct doesn’t switch off when I walk into the gorge. There’s always a voice telling me to make something more dramatic, more impressive. Honestly, the hardest part of this residency hasn’t been the shooting. It’s been the editing, when I look back at the images and that old urge comes back: the wish to make something louder, something people will notice.
So I’ve had to hold myself back a little. When I start doubting the work, I remind myself what I’m actually after. Not something flashy, but something quieter. These photos might not stop you in your tracks. But if you slow down and really look at them, I think you’ll find something there, a kind of stillness that’s hard to put into words. That’s who I’m making them for: not the quick glance, but the person willing to look a little longer.
I’ve also been reading a lot of Zen writing while I work, and it’s shaped how I think about what I’m doing. The more I read, the more I’ve come to see emptiness not as nothing, but as space, an openness where things can happen.
Along with that, I’ve felt more connected to the natural world. Less like someone standing outside it with a camera, and more like I belong there too, alongside the trees, the water, the light, the small living things around me. Not their photographer, just their neighbor. And that led me to the idea that’s really at the center of this project: presence.
Underneath all the things that change, the seasons, the water, the trees that are bare in winter and full of leaves in summer, there seems to be something steady that lets everything else exist. Something that’s in everything and everyone. Sometimes I wonder if it’s just the energy of the planet itself. I can’t really put it into words, and maybe that’s the point. The second I try to name it, I’ve made it smaller than it is.
But that’s what I want this work to be about: the space we live in, the space that holds us, and how alive it actually is. You can’t see it directly, and you can’t really photograph it. But it’s there. I’m hoping the images can at least point toward it. The photo isn’t the thing itself. It’s just an invitation to notice it.
I’ve photographed the gorge in winter, spring and summer. The place looks completely different between visits, the color, how full it is, even how it sounds. But the feeling I’m after doesn’t change. That taught me something. What I’m connected to isn’t really the scenery. It’s not this particular tree or that particular light. It’s the aliveness underneath all of it, which is there whether the branches are bare or green.
And this is the part that matters most to me: I really do feel connected to this place. It feels alive to me. When I’m shooting, I’m not thinking about exposure or framing or any of the technical stuff that usually fills my head on a job. I’m just feeling that connection and letting the camera follow it. In those moments it barely feels like I’m the one taking the picture.
I don’t know yet exactly what this project will turn into, how many images, how they’ll be printed, how they’ll hang together. That part is still coming. But I’ve learned to trust the process more than the plan. Every time I go back, sit down, and let myself get quiet before I start, I’m really practicing the same thing twice: as a photographer, and as a person trying to get out of her own way long enough to see clearly.
If there’s one thing I’d want someone to take from this work, it’s not that the photos are impressive. It’s just an invitation to slow down, pay attention, and maybe notice that quiet, steady presence that’s always there, holding all of us.
Gallery of photos from Donges Bay Gorge
The photographs are untitled, Zen moments meant to speak for themselves.
Selections of Previous Work
From the series “When there were men,” a project about 100 years of Russian history through the eyes of the artist’s family.
To see additional examples of Lidia’s previous work go to her website: lidiasharapova.com
BIO
I’m a photographer based in Wisconsin, and my work is mostly about paying attention: to nature, to imperfection, and to the quiet connection underneath things.
For years I photographed women, mostly intimate portraits, trying to capture something honest about their experience. That’s still close to my heart, but my work has changed a lot in the last few years, mostly because my meditation practice deepened. I follow Zen, and the more I sat with it, the more it started to shape not just how I live but how I make pictures.
These days I’m interested in letting go of control. A lot of my career was spent chasing precision, getting everything technically right. Now I care less about that. When I’m out shooting, I try not to overthink the technical side or plan the perfect image. I follow what draws my attention and trust it. Getting out of my own way like that is really the same thing I’m working on in my meditation: quieting down long enough to see what’s actually there.
My process is pretty simple. I meditate, and then I go out and spend time in a natural place without much of a plan. When something moves me, I photograph it. I’m not trying to record how a place looks. I’m following how it feels at that moment, and I trust that more than accuracy.
I keep coming back to a phrase I use for what I’m after: true nature. I can’t define it cleanly, and I’ve stopped trying to. It’s the thing underneath all the changing surfaces, and pointing toward it, even a little, is what keeps me making this work.
My photographs have been shown at the Museum of Wisconsin Art (DTN gallery) and at MARN Art + Culture Hub in Milwaukee.
Website: lidiasharapova.com
More information about Donges Bay Gorge Nature Preserve, along with links to additional ARTservancy artists in residence who have served there, is on our Find-a-Park page.
This residency is sponsored by Restoring Lands. Additional ARTservancy artists in residence at other sites can be found here.
This is the latest in our series of featured artists, which is intended to showcase the work of photographers, artists, writers and other creative individuals in our community whose subjects or themes relate in some broad sense to nature, urban nature, people in nature, etc. To see a list of previously featured artists, click here. The work of the 2022-2023 ARTservancy artists in residence is currently being exhibited monthly at Gallery 224. To meet the other ARTservancy artists in residence, click here and then use the drop-down menu.
All images courtesy of the artist, except as noted. The featured photo at the top of Lidia Sharapova at Donges Bay Gorge Nature Preserve is by Eddee Daniel. Restoring Lands is a project partner of A Wealth of Nature.
The Natural Realm blog is part of A Wealth of Nature, which is a project of Preserve Our Parks.
About Preserve Our Parks
Preserve Our Parks, Inc. is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of parks and green spaces. Our mission: To advocate for and promote Milwaukee area parks and open spaces and to strive to protect the tenets of Wisconsin’s Public Trust Doctrine.
For more than 25 years, we have been a leader in advocating for the protection of Milwaukee County park lands, halting many proposals to develop, privatize, or sell local parkland and lakefront spaces. More information about POP, including past accomplishments, is available at www.preserveourparks.org.