“I’m experience first, photos second,” says Los Angeles–based photographer Brian Chorski, whose new book, Another Patch of Sky (Guest Editions, 2025), offers a seductive and strangely intimate impression of natural beauty in the western United States and Mexico.
Owens River, Mammoth Lakes, California (left); the Wave, Coyote Buttes, Arizona (right)
Photos by Brian Chorski
The title signifies Chorski’s freewheeling mode of travel, “just stumbling upon another patch of sky,” he says. And the book presents a kind of pastoral voyeurism in its collection of photos from trips with friends between 2019 and 2024: swimming in California’s Mammoth Lakes, hiking in Montana’s Glacier National Park, fishing in Baja, Mexico, and more. “I hope it’s obvious that I had an amazing time,” he says. “I could confidently say I would have been happy having gone on those trips without making any photos I was happy with.”
Santa Barbara, California
A Wisconsin native who sums up his childhood as “waiting for summer,” Chorski got into photography while studying abroad in Lyon, France. A friend encouraged him to buy his first camera, a Canon Rebel, and he quickly became obsessed with photographing landscapes. His move to San Francisco in 2016—he drove his 2001 Buick Century across the country—ushered in “that first period of excitement and romanticization with the Mountain West.”
Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park, Montana (left); Tucson, Arizona (right)
Soon, he was spending weekends road-tripping and documenting the experience on film. “I feel like analog keeps me grounded,” Chorski says. “For me, it really boils down to being honest about the colors the eye sees.” While the mountain and desert landscapes helped shape his compositions, he found himself wanting to capture more in his frames. “I think I was most inspired by my friends, like, ripping their shirts off and jumping into lakes instead of just the landscape itself.”
Owens River, Mammoth Lakes, California
As Chorski grew more serious about photography, he also started studying more art. He was particularly taken by the work of Mike Brodie, who, between 2004 and 2008, freight-hopped across the U.S. and used his Polaroid to chronicle the people he met along the way. “The way he captured subjects moving through places in the West was super transformative for me,” Chorski says.
Baja, Mexico (left); Lake Powell, Utah (right)
He already has an eye on new projects—including a deep dive into his home state of Wisconsin—but he knows he’ll never grow tired of exploring California’s Sierra mountain range or the sandstone canyons of Utah. “The West just has this openness to it,” Chorski says. “It’s freedom.”
Owens River, Bishop, California (left); Albuquerque, New Mexico (right)
