Beth Moon, Kapok

I spoke about California Photographer Beth Moon on November 1 in the context of magical realism.  She is one of my all time favorite artists, and as I said then, “her work is not just worth seeing, it is worth seeing again and again.”

Kapok comes from Beth’s portfolio of tree pictures, “Portraits of Time.” Trees are silent witnesses to time and history.  And, the trees that she photographs are among the most ancient and most magical.  Trees, I think, carry a sense of faith for us, a faith in the eternal continuity of life.  There are two great acts of faith that we, as human beings,  partake in: having children and planting trees.  I planted a Norway Spruce once in my back yard.  It will eventually grow a hundred feet or more tall.  I will not live to see that.  But it will grow without me, and every time  I look at it I think of the great continuum that goes beyond me.  Such is the sense of wonder that Beth Moon’s tree photographs raise in me.   And Kapok is one of her best.

The is a wonderful movement in the image.  The placement of the limbs, roots, leaves, and clouds create a spectacular dynamicism.  The tree appears to be dancing, to be spinning on axis.

The one thing that remains to be said is that this is a platinum palladium. Seeing them in digital doesn’t quite do them justice.Each print is an individual.  If you get the opportunity to see Beth Moon’s work in person you should do so.