yes - here it is... a year has past and I've taken the final photo for the tree project I've been working on since August 18th, 2007.
It felt strange today to go outside and take this photo. I felt distracted. disconnected in a way from the tree. My life is so very different then it was a year ago. For so many reasons. But the short version is that my life is much more rich, much more full, and I feel more grounded in general then I did back then. Actually the tree this summer is less full then it was last year. It had a big trimming in the middle of the project and never fully got back to it's original depth. I too went through a trimming of sorts.... Of friends that no longer fit, of a business that no longer felt right, and whatever else fell out of the "tree" as a result of those things. I also got married in between and we are working on a new little project together that will be revealed shortly.
I was reflecting on that tree as a metaphor for self. Watching the tree evolve as I go through my own evolution. And it is very clear that I have and so has that tree.
The project was called "the 20th year"
But I think it too might evolve to be called "the family tree"
and I have a feeling that there might be an evolution to the series - a branching off - (pun intended)! - into a new direction - but with the same tree.
We shall see what happens next. I do know that a few photographer friends and I are talking about having a group show that centers around our images of trees. All of us do very different work and I think it would look spectacular in one room together. That might be down the road a bit but something to look forward to and plan out. Trees bring oxygen to the planet and we all know that our planet could use some. And trees also bring freshness to a human beings life. Who doesn't love the sounds of wind flowing through the trees, or the rusting of leaves in the fall, of the shade it provides during a picnic at a park....I personally love the morning ritual of coming out to the front porch with my cat and sitting near the tree with her. It just feels good there. brings me back to myself and into my day.
i'm so glad I did this project and I look forward to sharing the completed series in a show or a book or both some day soon.
Today I feel grateful for so many people, places and things. And that tree is definitely on that list.
*** quote for the day
If you look up, there are no limits.
-Japanese Proverb
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