For Asheville photographer Tim Reaves, there’s magic hidden in plain sight—if you’re willing to wander into the night to find it.
By day, Reaves hikes his favorite Blue Ridge trails. By night, he slips into fields alive with fireflies and mountain skies spilling over with stars. “My work captures the quiet magic hidden in the natural world, especially at night,” he says. “I’m drawn to scenes that feel both grounded and otherworldly.”
Rooted in Western North Carolina, his work reflects wonder, resilience and connection to place. “I’ve never felt more at home than in these hills,” he reflects. “At night, everything changes. A sense of the sacred seeps over the peaks and into the valleys.”
Reaves has called these mountains home for a decade, and for the past two years, he’s been an artist in Asheville’s River Arts District. “RAD felt like a home calling me in,” he says. “The people are wonderful, and the art is world-class.”
That connection deepened after Hurricane Helene devastated the region. Reaves watched in real time as forecasts turned from ominous to catastrophic. When floodwaters finally receded, Foundation Studios, where some of his work was displayed, stood in ruin.
“It wasn’t just ‘historic,’ it was ‘geologic,’” he recalls. What he remembers most is what came next, "Neighbors cooking meals for strangers, artists painting ‘Flood Back Love’ and ‘WNC Strong’ on boarded-up buildings, teachers checking on every student, people showing up day after day, even when they had nothing left to give. We’ve grown closer through the storm and the rebuilding.”
Helene reshaped more than the landscape. It shifted Reaves’ artistic purpose. “I now approach photography with a heightened awareness of impermanence and resilience,” he says. “The darkness I capture isn’t just aesthetic. It holds space for grief, memory and quiet recovery.”
At first glance, Reaves piece, “Secrets of the Holler,” on display at Asheville Regional Airport, depicts bioluminescent vines winding through the forest. What this metal photo print captures is the flight of the rare blue ghost fireflies. Long exposures reveal their true greenish-yellow hues, hidden to the naked eye. Reaves speaks of his subjects with reverence, “Their glow is so subtle, but with patience, you can see their beauty.”
Asked where he dreams of photographing next, Reaves doesn’t hesitate. “Iceland or Alaska during aurora season,” he says, his voice lit with the same wonder that fuels his work. Because for him, beauty is always waiting—often where the world has gone quiet and dark.
You can view Reaves piece "Secrets of the Holler" in the exhibit "Mountain Memories" at Asheville Regional Airport, on display through October 30, 2025. The exhibit is displayed in the Asheville Regional Airport Art Gallery located in the new North Concourse, post security – please note only ticketed passengers can view this area.
