Thermal Explorer, Forgotten World furthers Merriam’s relationship with out of the way, empty and pristine parts of the world. Without intention to shoot anything in particular, Merriam lets the place, in this case New Zealand, dictate the direction of his work. Arriving in the spring, the artist was particularly drawn to the abundance of wildflowers embodying a regeneration of life. The resulting series captures both ancient mountains and fields of just birthed flowers, two entities rising from the ground at vastly different scales.