For the Love of Trees

For the Love of Trees is a long-term project that addresses the many ways we humans rely on trees and celebrates those trying to make a difference.

For the Love of Trees explores the many ways we humans rely on trees.  I am photographing those who try to make a difference in a world threatened by climate change and environmental uncertainty: those who practice sustainable logging and planting techniques and those who study, re-forest, or protect trees (e.g., scientists, firefighters, loggers, environmentalists, and Indigenous people). I see this work in conversation with both historical and contemporary paintings and photographs of powerful people doing great and not-so great things.  The people in my photographs are not famous, but they are doing great work.  They are the caretakers of trees (and by extension the plants and animals who rely on the trees) and my photographs pay tribute to their efforts. 

The images submitted are from my first two years working in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, a 16,000-acre ecological site known for its 200-year research studies.  I am working with Dr. Joseph LaManna, a scientist conducting a long-term study of the trees and how they affect the plants that live below them.  I follow Joe and his crew every summer while they carry out his research.  Climate change is altering how the forest performs and the study seeks to understand how the forest will adapt over time. This past summer a fire burned through 65 percent of the Andrews and moving forward there will be new studies looking at the impact of the fire on the forest.

About the images:

• The multi-paneled images are mounted separately on aluminum and stacked so that some panels come off the wall. Each panel is 40” high and the length is 65” to 150”, depending on the number of panels.  The forest is massive and so the prints must be as well. 

• The Cones and Scientist’s Tools grid images are printed separately, framed in black, and exhibited on a wall in grid form.  Images are printed to original object size: 15” x 23” each.

• Tagged trees in grid are mounted separately on aluminum, 40” x 26.5”

• Single images are printed in the 30-to-40-inch range.

• If I could afford it, I would create light boxes so that the images would glow in a darkened room.