Photographer and author Kim Nagy moved to Lyndeborough for easy access to nature. Now, she wants to motivate fellow Granite Staters to spend more time outside.
At her talk — Life Lessons Through the Lens: Wildlife Photography & Nature as Therapy, held Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Wilton Public Library — Nagy shared what she’s learned through photography about the importance of spending time outside.
“My goal is to help people connect with nature, and there are so many hours in a day, and we spend very little time with ‘green time’ and a significant amount of time with screen time,” she said.
For Nagy, the important part of “green time” is taking the time to focus on the beauty of nature, something she does through her artwork.
“One of the things that I’ve always said is that photography, like life, is all about focus,” she said.
Photography is Nagy’s passion, but she said everyone can find a way to get outside and enjoy nature — whether that’s hiking, gardening, birdwatching, painting or some other activity.
“There’s always something going on. When we’re in judgment, instead of curiosity, we tend to look around and say, ‘Well, nothing’s happening,’” Nagy said. Instead, “ask a different question: What am I not seeing? What’s here that’s not visible to me right now?”
Nagy travels the world capturing nature with her camera, but many of her photos featuring bears, foxes, deer and birds were taken in her backyard in Lyndeborough. New Hampshire, she said, offers a uniquely “rich opportunity” to observe the natural world.
“You can learn so much about life, just from watching the animals and appreciating the beauty,” she said.
Over the course of three summers, Nagy patiently observed the lives of bluebirds from her porch. During that time, she saw them raise 17 chicks and the female bird’s eventual death by a predator.
When that happened, she said she at first focused on the loss of the bird and how sad she felt. Now, she reflects on it as an opportunity to “look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything,” as Albert Einstein put it.
“Nature is not kind, it’s not fair, but life isn’t fair,” Nagy said.
Beyond her presentation to the crowd in Wilton, Nagy hopes to bring life lessons from nature to classrooms in nearby towns to help kids get outdoors and off their screens.
She makes the same pitch to adults — with jobs, they can spend even more time on their screens than their kids do on some days.
“Don’t wait until you feel better to go outside,” Nagy said. “Go outside to feel better now.”