Your favorite tree
Mandarin tree, San Gaetano, Sicily
I tend to imbue trees with a certain amount of personality. Trees can be warm and friendly or stand-offish and cold. Trees play an important part in my personal history. I’ve even been known to talk to trees (maybe this explains why I am so drawn to photographing trees instead of, say, people), but not in a crazy way, I promise. I can’t help but think that there are others out there like me.
I’ve been thinking that I’d like to tell a story about the emotional connection people have with trees. The idea has been rattling around in my head for a little while, but with my recent participation in collect.give (specifically how I came to choose the charity that I did), it became clear that it could be a fun and worthwhile project.
To tell this story, I am looking for submissions of a photo or illustration and short essay/poem/story/song lyrics (anywhere from just a few sentences to a few paragraphs) about a tree that you feel particularly connected to. The visual component is very important, which is why I am reaching out to artists first, but I will be opening submissions up to the general public once the project gets going.
Please let me know if you would be interested in joining this project and I’ll send you more details. And please spread the word, whether through Facebook, Twitter, or on your own blog.
December 3, 2009