In the 36 photographs from the “Earthly Delights” series, 1986–88, Ray Metzker is face to face with the landscape, with the thick of twisted branches where underbrush and overgrowth prevail. Primarily known as a photographer of cities—their architecture and people—Metzker lyrically addresses this rural subject with a new use of light, the element that has always been the strongest in his formal vocabulary. In nearly half of these photographs, light bears the greatest influence on the image and provides the viewer with an unexpected idea of the landscape. These woods are aglow. Even before the