Trees: A Photographic Study inDetermination
Trees is a series derived from almost 100 images taken overthe years from California to Crete. I have a penchant for things in nature that survive and thrive in whatcould be described as difficult, if not hostile, conditions. These images appeal to my nature as I am somewhat driven, persistent, and single-mindedly determined in my pursuit ofdiscovering subjects in nature to photograph.
Thisportfolio is notas much about survival as it isabout the determination to thrivein less than ideal conditions. This is something I think many of us can relate to today. With our daily existence based on localand global markets and economies, our lives becoming more and more influenced by perceptions ratherthan realities because we spend more time texting and emailing than actually talking to each other, and with the everincreasing complexity of technologies dominating our lives living in today’ssociety has become more complicated and, in many cases, more difficult if not outright hostile.
Thetrees in these images did not choose to grow in the places I found them. The tree in the image titled Determination did not choose to beplanted in Imbros Gorge in Crete only to have to work its roots though thestone walls of the gorge to get to what soil was available. Not all the trees in this series havesuch difficult environments but they all have challenges. The oak in GnarledOak for example is inwhat could be considered an idyllic setting except for the jagged crack in theforeground I suspect was the result of an earthquake.
WhatI hope people take away from this series is that there is beauty and elegancein even the most difficult of conditions. If only we approachedlife more like trees, just a bit more slowly than we do now, we could better manage what few advantages wehave and grow and thrive in today’s world with the same grace and elegancethese trees display. Toparaphrase the last line of poet Joyce Kilmer’s poem Trees, “Photographs aremade by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.”
Trees is a series derived from almost 100 images taken overthe years from California to Crete. I have a penchant for things in nature that survive and thrive in whatcould be described as difficult, if not hostile, conditions. These images appeal to my nature as I am somewhat driven, persistent, and single-mindedly determined in my pursuit ofdiscovering subjects in nature to photograph.
Thisportfolio is notas much about survival as it isabout the determination to thrivein less than ideal conditions. This is something I think many of us can relate to today. With our daily existence based on localand global markets and economies, our lives becoming more and more influenced by perceptions ratherthan realities because we spend more time texting and emailing than actually talking to each other, and with the everincreasing complexity of technologies dominating our lives living in today’ssociety has become more complicated and, in many cases, more difficult if not outright hostile.
Thetrees in these images did not choose to grow in the places I found them. The tree in the image titled Determination did not choose to beplanted in Imbros Gorge in Crete only to have to work its roots though thestone walls of the gorge to get to what soil was available. Not all the trees in this series havesuch difficult environments but they all have challenges. The oak in GnarledOak for example is inwhat could be considered an idyllic setting except for the jagged crack in theforeground I suspect was the result of an earthquake.
WhatI hope people take away from this series is that there is beauty and elegancein even the most difficult of conditions. If only we approachedlife more like trees, just a bit more slowly than we do now, we could better manage what few advantages wehave and grow and thrive in today’s world with the same grace and elegancethese trees display. Toparaphrase the last line of poet Joyce Kilmer’s poem Trees, “Photographs aremade by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.”
“Determination”ImbrosGorge, Imbros, Crete
“Lastof Their Kind”NearTheriso, Crete
“StoneOlive”NearGouverneto Monastery, Near Stavros, Crete
“Stoneand Oak”CastleRock State Park, Near Santa Cruz, California
“GnarledOak”Gilroy,California
“NotForgotten”KallergiMountain, Omalos, Crete
“HangingOn”VolakiesMountain, Near Kambi, Crete
“Makingthe Shade”VolakiesMountain, Near Kambi, Crete
“LoneTree”ImbrosGorge, Imbros, Crete
“LoneCypress at Point Lobos”PointLobos State Park, Carmel, California
“BentBut Not Broken”PointLobos State Reserve, Carmel, California
“VeteranCypress”PointLobos State Reserve, Carmel, California
“MorningAt Tenaya Lake”YosemiteNational Park, California
“Ancient”OlmstedPoint, Yosemite National Park, California
“It’sTough Growing Up”TuolumneMeadow, Yosemite National Park, California
“Nothing’sImpossible”MercedRiver, Yosemite National Park, California
“BrandNew Day”TenayaLake, Yosemite National Park, California
“BentPine and Half Dome”GlacierPoint, Yosemite National Park, California
“CypressIsland”PowhatanCreek, Williamsburg, Virginia
“LongIsland Lone Pine”LongIsland, Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Sandbridge, Virginia
"All Wrapped Up"
Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia
Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia
“SunsetPines”WawonaRoad above Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, California
