Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time
Book Review by Nicholas Dantona
Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time is a photobook of approximately 70 images represented as full-page, duotone plates by photographer, Beth Moon. The 104-page, 11-inch square hardcover is published by Abbeville Press and currently sells on Amazon for $36.
This fourteen-year project to photograph many of the oldest living trees on Earth has taken Moon across Europe, Asia, the United States, the Middle East and Africa. Some specimens are more than 1,000 years old. Moon meticulously planned each photographic location by season, weather condition and accessibility to capture her subjects when they could best reveal themselves to her lens. For some she allowed a regalia of full bloom. For others Moon waited for them to strip down to nakedness disclosing a gnarled complexity otherwise hidden by foliage.
Ms. Moon used her Pentax 6.7 film camera to make the majority of photographs included in this book. In the opinion of this reviewer, the images present not so much a look or style, but uncover the relationship between the subject and the photographer. These giants are more like sitters to their portraitist; gargantuan Mona Lisas to an ever-observant Da Vinci. Each photographed tree is integrated into its environment by mood, position, light and a mysterious other element that takes it beyond normal context. Trees are ubiquitous and as such disappear in our normal range of vision. Occasionally we become aware of their presence, and to those of us who are visual artists, set out to make a series of pictures that depicts some individual epiphany, or an exposition of form. Beth Moon’s photographs transcend that kind of effort. Rather, they are an exploration of the inner nature of these wondrous life forms and a genuine exhibition of their charisma. It is a result more akin to Sally Mann’s capturing the thick atmosphere and character of the Deep South. Moon’s pictures conjure a connection that we have with the land and these precious sentinels that have stood guard for centuries, a connection we may have forgotten, but now cannot deny.
In addition to the images are several special features. There is a lovely introduction by the artist giving insight into this very personal quest, and narrative captions that accompany an index of thumbnail pictures in the back of the book. Todd Forrest, vice president for horticulture and living collections at The New York Botanical Garden, provides a concise introduction to the biology and preservation of ancient trees while occasionally relating this information to the photographs themselves. Learning that some of these trees are in their fifth millennium of life adds gravitas to his message. The book concludes with an essay by critic Steven Brown who, “defines Moon’s unique place in a tradition of tree photography extending from William Henry Fox Talbot to Sally Mann, and explores the challenges and potential of the tree as a subject for art.”
Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time is a worthy addition, perhaps even a necessity to any serious photobook collection, as Beth Moon stakes her claim as a preeminent tree portraitist, right next to Sally Mann.