Urban Calm is a book of photographs depicting city scenes that invoke a sense of tranquility through architecture, geometry, and color. The images feature a variety of architectural styles, industrial and utilitarian fixtures, functional and decorative elements; all of which are representative of Salt Lake City. This collection exhibits a diversity of compositional styles, with each image designed to complement its subject's unique characteristics.
While initially a personal project used to manage my anxiety—composing, photographing, editing, and viewing these images calms and relaxes me—the Covid-19 pandemic broadened my scope. When the world shut down in March 2020, I took to the emptied streets in search of photographs that produced feelings of peace and order amid the turmoil and chaos of the pandemic. I brought this source of creative, meditative relaxation to a wider audience, first by posting my work to Instagram, and now with the publication of this book.
As both a therapeutic exercise and an artistic venture, I not only make this work for myself, but for others whose lives are affected by anxiety or related mental health conditions.
-Peter Wiarda