The Language of Trees

This project was my final portfolio for Digital Photography 1, and my first foray back into digital in over 5 years at the time. I struggled through this class and its prompts for photographs and the vague critiques of classmates like, “you should have used (insert equipment here) to do this. It would’ve been much better.” Those comments fueled a year of shooting film on a toy point and shoot camera and I very much stand by my position that the equipment does not make the photographer. I love photographing trees though, and it was a theme I kept coming back to in this particular class so I decided to focus my final project on the intricate details of trees at all stages: young, old, big, small, on the ground, standing tall. This body of work is one that ties into my personal work often and I find a great comfort in. 

After that class, I pursued this project as an act of mindfulness through my hikes and when the world was still keeping distance from each other. It’s become a sort of eternal project so to speak, featuring all of the mediums I work in, the many places I go and are a testament to the adventures I have in life. They remind me that even through the worst storms, I can still stand tall and proud while being changed.