30 Portraits of Trees and One of the Forest
I’ll tell the wind my name, and no one else.
True madness takes or leaves us in the wood
halfway through all our lives. My skin will be
my face now…
Neil Gaiman, Going Wodwo
What seems like eons ago, before abstraction filled my focus, before travel photography and bands and macro work, I spent a lot of my time making portraits. I have always loved the challenge of the unconstructed image that captures a little of what another human is about. So while tripping around in the wilderness this past weekend, I was inspired by the character of the trees surrounding me.
It’s so easy to get lost in the largeness of everything that is around that you miss the individuality of the tree; the texture, color, changes wrought by weather and age, flaws inflicted by the intrusion of insect, bird, and human. So I started taking portraits…
No. 1
No. 2
No. 3
No. 4
No. 5
No. 6
No. 7
No. 8
No. 9
No. 10
No. 11
No. 12
No. 13
No. 14
No. 15
No. 16
No. 17
No. 18
No. 19
No. 20
No. 21
No. 22
No. 23
No. 24
No. 25
No. 26
No. 27
No. 28
No. 29
No. 30
Just a little soapbox moment: Hey “G” – I know it fulfills a primitive human instinct to mark your territory, but grow the fuck up. Gouging trees and scratching into rocks is nothing but vandalism. Go do something noteworthy, put your name on it, and stop being a ass.
And don’t litter.
…I’ll leave the way of words to walk the wood
I’ll be the forest’s man, and greet the sun,
And feel the silence blossom on my tongue
like language.
Neil Gaiman, Going Wodwo