In Light of Trees

Ann Ginsburgh Hofkin

How remarkable it is that we, as human beings with our mortal faculties, can imagine the wonders of creation in this universe in which we find ourselves. We have investigated and employed various tools — such as the use of infrared film, sound measurements and interpretations and more — to reach beyond our human capabilities. Such aids can reliably record and prove the existence of phenomena of which we would otherwise be unaware. 

There is a huge swath of visual data that the human eye is unable to perceive, and many living things communicate sounds that we can neither recognize nor comprehend given the limitations of our hearing. Exploring the enormous array of life's hidden features, especially as it pertains to the environment, has always been a primary motivation behind my work as an artist and photographer.

This is especially true for me when it comes to trees. For my entire life, being in the presence of trees has frequently aroused feelings in me that are beyond measure. And trees are certainly treasured in human lives. One could liken this effect to hearing music that touches or affects us in ways that we might not completely understand. 

It is an established fact that a tree (presumably like all living plant life) communicates via sound in waves that measure beyond what the human ear can ascertain. By the same token, there are visible features unavailable to the human eye that can nevertheless be recorded using films that are also sensitive to those parts of the visible spectrum that people cannot see.

Paying particular attention to the role that trees might assume in our lives, I can think of many examples. By way of association, how often might we refer to ourselves by using various tree-related characteristics? For example, we may cite an action as being “rooted” in something else. We may describe a chosen path in our activities as “branching out.” Or the results of an effort of ours could be said to “bear fruit.” 

Trees, like other varieties of vegetation, breathe in the carbon dioxide that humans and many other living things expel, releasing the oxygen that is in turn needed for the survival of human beings and many other animals. We call this interdependency “symbiosis.”

“In Light of Trees” is the title that Dodie, Linda, and I selected for this exhibition. As such, it is, 

I believe, perfectly open-ended; please join us on this (I hope) never-ending journey.

Linda Gammell

In these photographs, I explore the intimacy of trees, most often those growing in the boreal forests of northern Minnesota. I am interested in the nature of place, within reach and touch as experienced in the body through walking, slowing down, paying attention, the stillness, the scintilla of light through trees, the subtle visual changes in age and growth (and myself), all in the same places over time, sometimes several decades. 

I attempt to make the photographs an intersection of the factual and imaginative to suggest ideas of connection, memory, atmosphere, affection, beauty, decay and destruction. Knowing these forests are changing and under stress, I am guided by the words of writer Margaret Renkl in The Comfort of Crows:

“I’m not trying to hide from the truth, but to balance it, to remind myself that there are other truths, too. I need to remember that the earth, fragile as it is, remains heartbreakingly beautiful.”

My father, a lifelong lover of trees, first made me aware of their magnetism. My first photograph of a tree, taken when I was 10 years old, is of him standing beneath a white pine (Pinus strobus) in a forest in northern Minnesota where as a young man he worked as a forester. It’s to him that I dedicate this work.

Dodie Logue

These charcoal drawings came out of a period of frustration with my work; I made the decision to simplify and use only charcoal on paper, black and white. I wanted to focus on certain formal skills  - value, drawing, composition - as well as capturing a mood and essence.

At this time I was working as a bird guide for a nature travel company. Most days would find me out in the field, especially during the early morning time when the light is spectacular. I was looking for birds but trees were omnipresent, and they became the subject for my work.