the wreck of the govendren, foyn harbor, antarctica

ASiF’s Spring - 2026 Invitational Show Featuring:
ABANDONED THINGS - Photography by David Arnold &
GOLDEN - Lithography by Rachel Fritz
Opening Reception, Friday, May 22, 5 - 7pm
Art Talk begins at 6:30pm

abandoned screen & ticket booth, sage crest drive-in, Yerington, nevada

abandoned whaleboats, deception island, antarctica

David Arnold is an internationally acclaimed fine art photographer and educator with a career that spans over forty years. His photography reflects travels to all seven continents, exploring themes of history, memory, landscape, and the visual remnants of human experience. Arnold received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for his photography book Situations, further establishing his reputation as an influential voice in contemporary photography.

In addition to his work and international recognition as an exhibiting artist, Arnold is a recognized educator of photography both locally and regionally. He taught photography at Nevada Union High School in Grass Valley for twenty-two years, from 1995 - 2017 - and currently serves as an adjunct professor in the Art & Design and Photography Department at Sierra College and in the School of Photography at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.


Abandoned Things is an ongoing series of infrared photographs of abandoned cars, boats, houses, trailers, gas stations, and various types of debris scattered throughout the landscapes of California, Nevada, and the American West. With the use of infrared photography, a process which records wavelengths of light outside the visible spectrum, Arnold creates surreal, false-color images that transform ordinary scenes into dreamlike and otherworldly environments. Rather than focusing on monumental ruins or dramatic archaeological sites, Arnold’s work examines the fragile remains of everyday life. The abandoned objects in Abandoned Things suggest that beauty and meaning can emerge from decay, impermanence, and neglect. His photographs reveal a quiet poetry within the ordinary, reflecting on the randomness of existence, the inevitability of change, and the emotional resonance carried by forgotten places and discarded objects. Through these images, Arnold invites viewers to reconsider the visual and historical significance of the overlooked remnants that persist within contemporary landscapes.


Central to Arnold’s photography is the idea that our understanding of the past is shaped through history, memory, and relics. He views photography as both a physical record of time and a catalyst for personal and collective memory. Much like historical artifacts themselves, photographs exist in a tension between past and present, gathering meaning through context, interpretation, and subjective experience. His work reflects the belief that neither photography nor history can fully contain the complexity of a lived experience, just as no photograph can completely capture the entirety of a landscape viewed through the camera lens. 


Arnold’s most recent works reflect his travels through Vietnam, Cambodia, and Portugal in 2025 - and through Arizona, Nevada, and Utah in early 2026, where he focused on ancient cliff dwellings and ghost towns of the American Southwest. His upcoming projects include travels to Disko Bay, Greenland, to photograph icebergs, and a trip to the Scottish Highlands during the autumn months to document the dramatic landscape and atmosphere of northern Scotland.