NEWSLETTER
Photoville—known for its annual citywide photography festival—continues to expand its year-round free, public programming
New York, N.Y. - Photoville (co-founded by Laura Roumanos, Sam Barzilay, and Dave Shelley), in partnership with the South Street Seaport Museum, will present Australian conservation and nature photographer Jon McCormack’s “Elements of Wonder: When Nature Becomes Art” from April 22 to June 14, 2026. This outdoor exhibition in front of the Museum’s Water Street galleries and printing shop is free and open to all—no registration required.
“Elements of Wonder: When Nature Becomes Art” features a decade-long environmental photography project spanning five continents, captured in Jon McCormack’s book Patterns: Art of the Natural World. The work explores the natural world at radically different scales, from microscopic mineral formations to aerial views of rivers and coastlines, revealing recurring patterns of form, structure, and movement. The aim is to reintroduce viewers to a sense of wonder and awe, and to invite a slower, more attentive way of seeing. Moving between the intimate and the immense, it reveals the quiet architecture of the natural world—its rhythms, textures, and hidden harmonies. These images ask us to pause, to look more deeply, and to remember our place within a living, breathing system far larger than ourselves. In attending to beauty, fragility, and interconnectedness, the work offers an invitation not only to witness the world but to care for it.
Details
On view April 22 through June 14, 2026
Exterior area of South Street Seaport Museum: Water Street, Manhattan
About the Artist
Jon McCormack is an Australian photographer and conservationist whose work has been featured by prestigious publications and organizations worldwide, including TIME, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, UNESCO, The Guardian, CNN, and The Telegraph. Alongside his photographic practice, McCormack leads camera software engineering for iPhone at Apple—a convergence reflected in this monograph, where some of the images are captured using iPhone.
About Photoville
Photoville is a New York-based nonprofit that promotes a wider understanding of and increased access to the art of photography for all. We produce an annual, city-wide photography festival in New York City, a range of free educational initiatives, and a nationwide program of public art exhibitions.
Through creative partnerships with festivals, city agencies, and other nonprofit organizations, Photoville offers visual storytellers, educators, and students financial support, mentorship, and promotional & production resources, on a range of exhibition opportunities.
About the South Street Seaport Museum
The South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City, preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, the Museum houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition galleries and education spaces, working 19th century print shops, and an active fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of “Where New York Begins.” seaportmuseum.org
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