Tree Hugger: A tree’s a tree; how many more do you need to look at?
Photography
Winter Morning, San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
by Dan Mouer
April 27, - May 20, 2012
Smallspace Gallery
Artist's Statement and Description of the Exhibit
Tree Hugger
"A tree's a tree; how many more do you need to look at?"
(This is a quote from Ronald Reagan as Governor of California regarding his wish to allow lumbering of redwood forests)
April 22, 2012 is the 32nd celebration of Earth Day in the USA. The modern environmental movement began in earnest on 4/22/1970. The next decade brought many advances in environmental protection, not only through government activity, but also through changes in our cultural perceptions of the world and our place in it. Many feel that progress was seriously thwarted when Ronald Reagan took office as President in 1980. One of the former president's favorite terms for belittling those who advocated respect for our natural heritage was "tree hugger." I am a tree hugger.
Trees are trees, I suppose, but I find myself needing, wanting to look at lots of them, often intently, sometimes contemplatively, frequently through a viewfinder. A black and white image of a single tree can be a serious technical and aesthetic test for a traditional photographer. The subject presents wide latitude to the photographer for creating varieties of tonal ranges, contrasts, levels of perspective distortion and sharp or soft quality in resolution. As I look back through my images over the years, I find I have hundreds of pictures of trees, and, at least in some cases, I think I have passed the test reasonably well.
My exhibit in smallspace honors Earth Day with a series of small, traditional, black-and-white photographs of trees. The individual trees were found in diverse landscapes over a period of about 35 years. There are examples from India, Louisiana, South Carolina, Spain, and Virginia. What I am seeking through this exhibit is a very classical photographic viewing experience. Smallish prints, viewed up close in an intimate setting.
Small monochromatic prints constitute what Marshall McLuhan called a "cool" medium: one that requires and invites the intimate participation of the observer's imagination. Today's visually flooded world is filled with super-sharp, super-saturated, "hot" images begging for attention. No wonder so many art photographers have turned to seeking out alternative approaches, such as using historical processes,"toy"cameras, and printing on soft cotton rag papers rather than bright-white, hard, shiny, resin-coated surfaces.
The pictures I will exhibit were all processed and printed by me using highest quality archival methods and materials. As is always my goal, I have produced these images and offer them primarily as objects of beauty. They are intended to soothe, to promote restful minds and gentle smiles, and to remind us why we should embrace trees.
Dan Mouer
|
|
Opening Reception Fourth Friday
April 27, 2012
7-10 pm
Free and Open to the Public
Live Oak at Penn Center Historic Site, St. Helena Island, S.C.
by Dan Mouer
Roots Reflection, James River Park, Richmond, Virginia
by Dan Mouer
American Beech, James River Park, Richmond, Virginia
by Dan Mouer
Under the Bo Tree, near Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
by Dan Mouer
|
