Movement is defined as the act of moving or a change or development. To move seems to be human. We migrate and move, conquer and move on. We live in the present, move towards the future and die. Our presence or being-in-the-presence changes and develops to the future or non-being-in-the-future. Death is part of life, and life is part of death. Without death, life cannot be and without death, life cannot be. I am fascinated by dead tree branches. It symbolizes movement in all of its forms. It moves your eyes along its ridges like it was a river. It changes in the sense that it becomes soil in the future. It changes from living tree to dead timber. It develops or moves toward nothing. In the dead state, it is not nothing yet, but slowly it moves towards nothing. Movement, then, is towards nothingness.
I titled this series of photographs "Movement". These dead tree branches are moving in the most literal sense of a word. They are moving from life to death, from being-present to being-non-present (or nothing). They are changing or developing into something else, ground or soil (compost). They also "show" movement metaphorically via the veins or the curves. It leads your eyes toward a point beyond the photograph itself, somewhere outside of the photograph, as if leading you toward the nothingness, the being which is not being anymore. The darkness surrounding some of the photographs attest to this feeling of being enveloped by nothingness.
Please enjoy these photographs. Maybe you won't like them. Maybe it is more art than photography. For some reason with this lens, dead tree trunks capture a specific aesthetic that "pleases" my eye. It is an old Nikon NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8 AI lens which I think comes from the 1970s. It takes extremely sharp and beautiful images. I hope you find these images aesthetically pleasing.
Photography is ART and your ART is great photography here! These kind of shots please my eyes as well. I am really glad i am not the only one that values and appreciates the aesthetic of life moving into death when timber is concerned. Keep up the great work and always keep your eyes out for more captures like this. I will always be a fan of this kind of look. =)
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it and I am glad that it is not just my eyes that find it appealing. I will! Next week I will do the second part with a new essay as well. Again, thank you!
You are most welcome! I have some old shots of a dead but still standing tree that had these flying, glittering iridescent bugs that colonized in one of the hollowed knots. If i can find those pics (they may be on a dead drive) then i will post them so you don't feel alone! The splintered and split wood grain was really cool to shoot from odd angles in macro! Looking forward to your new essay and part 2!
Thank you so much!
If you find them, tag me in your post!
I will for sure! and you are most welcome!