Storytelling Series: Into the Universe
I’ve found over the recent past that my lovely audience likes to hear the stories behind my images. In particular you all want to hear me speak to what goes into my Feminine Landscape images. And so I’ve decided to do an occasional series about this. I’ll choose an image (or perhaps even have you help me choose one over on my Instagram page) and tell you more about what went into it - the story, the why, or the how, or a memory that I personally associate with the image. This might be in written form, but it also could be video content such as behind-the-scenes or even a little sit-down with me. I want to use this series as a way to challenge myself as well as to create more engaging content. If you have suggestions or special requests, I am open to receiving them, so leave me a comment here or on my Instagram page, or send me an email ;)
I want to start with one of my personal favorites: Into the Universe.
This image was shot in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, specifically in the Cades Cove section of the park. This is an area I ALWAYS visit when I am there. I’ve probably been there 15 times or more over the years, always arriving well before sunrise and sitting in the line of cars at the gate to the Cove until the ranger comes to open it up at sunrise. Sunrise is the most magical time there, and there really isn’t much I love more than being there on a frosty, foggy morning and seeing the sun clear the mountain and come streaming through the fog. It’s truly magical.
This particular morning I was there with some relatively new friends, both photographers, and we made our way west to the central part of the cove to visit a very old friend: a special, solitary, majestic oak tree. The old oak is in a field, and looking out across the field to the east there is a beautiful grassy hill whose slope catches the late morning light in the most wonderful way; a glancing, if you will. This little hill has always caught my eye, and I hoped to use it as a setting for my Feminine Landscape series eventually. Being there with friends afforded me that opportunity on this morning, and I took full advantage of this.
The view to this hill is quite distant, such that shooting it alone was going to require a piece of equipment I didn’t have at the time (an intervalometer for you photographers out there), I only had a remote trigger, and the distance I needed to position myself from the camera was too far and out of range of the receiver. So when I found myself there with friends, and the requisite dress in my backpack, I was able to enlist their help to make the image I had envisioned. I framed up the shot from the field, and left my friends in place with my camera as I trekked along the road and up onto the hill. By the time I got up there, the sun had risen high enough in the sky to catch the edge of it and make that magic. I frolicked and pranced and jumped around, back and forth as my friends down below tripped my camera shutter. Foolishly, I was barefoot, and I ended up with dozens of bramble thorns in the soles of my feet. The frosty cold numbed my feet while I was up there on the hill, but after the fact, the pain certainly kept the memory alive for days and days and days, haha! There are many, many shots (thank you, my friends!), most of them with me either leaping through the air (which was my original idea), or of me walking side-on to the camera. but it was ultimately this image with my back to the camera that spoke to me. The faint, ghostly tree line I was looking towards struck me as a destination, and I was looking towards the forest, contemplating it all. It brought to mind a favorite quote from John Muir: “The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.” At this point, I had my title!
Lastly, I processed this as a black and white image which was not my original plan. I envisioned this scene in color, since the spring leaves on these trees are red and quite beautiful when backlit. But ultimately I found the color distracting, and felt the black and white was more suggestive of the universe or the galaxy that the title references. The square format suggests a sort of porthole, again in support of the title. I loved this image when I made it back in 2016, and I love just as much today!
My personal framed copy of this image is available for purchase. I am offering this Artist Proof, signed and framed with a certificate of authenticity, at the regular price of just the print. In essence, the frame is gratis, and this is a custom made frame with a luxe 6-ply mat and museum grade plexiglass finish made specifically for exhibition. Offered at $325 plus shipping for a limited time. There’s only one of these available, so if you’d like to make it yours, head to the shop and purchase it before it’s gone.