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Tim May | all galleries >> Yosemite Journeys:: ::a collection of galleries >> GALLERY:: Yosemite's Elements ::Fall 2004 > Holding On
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15-OCT-2004

Holding On

Yosemite's elements play here at two levels - the first is the way the water provides a medium for reflection and the second is that the Merced River is undercutting the roots of this tree and will eventually cause it to fall, but for now, it is holding on...

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Iris Maybloom (irislm)26-Mar-2006 00:33
Who can say it better than your amazing photographic eye and Phil's insightful words. Your photos spen up, not only the senses, but also the opportunity for spirited discussion.
Guest 15-Nov-2004 07:41
Yes, this is a lovely image. What works so brilliantly, in an instant, is the initial impression that we're looking at one network of capillaries which has been severed across the middle. So for me, the reflection provides an emphasis of the cut.
Phil Douglis08-Nov-2004 00:23
I agree with all you've said here, Tim. I am so fascinated by how we express the edges between life, death, and remembrance. I devote an entire gallery to this very subject at:http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/memories. We are part of nature, and nature is essentially cyclical. What goes around comes around. We are born, we live, we die. We leave behind a legacy, expressed by our deeds and our children. We will be remembered for who we were, and what we accomplished while we were alive. This tree hanging on after its time is, as I said below, a metaphor for persistence. It may have died, but it is not about to give up. In a sense, it still lives within the frame of your remarkable image. And because of your powers of observation, we shall always remember this tree, and what it represented to us.
Tim May07-Nov-2004 21:23
I really read your response to this image with interest. As I read it I thought about how both of us photograph graveyards. In its way this, too, is a image of the transition and remembrance of graveyards. This edge of life, death and remembrance is a recurring theme in both our work.
Phil Douglis05-Nov-2004 17:06
It is fascinating to see how so many different photographers interpret similar subjects, and this Yosemite workshop was a perfect opportunity. Dave Wyman, John and Vanita Boyd, Tom Talbot, you and I, were all shooting together here on the banks of the Merced and each of us found our own essence of the place. This image is a beautiful example of your vision, Tim -- I don't recall even seeing this, let alone shooting it. But after shooting side by side with you in Santa Fe twice, in San Diego, and in Yosemite and the Sierra, I am always amazed how your eye seeks out detail and configurations that the rest of us just walk on by. This image not only captures the inexorable course of nature itself, but it offers us a metaphor for persistence. The tree hangs on long after its time is up. It is beautifully abstracted, its reflection offers an incongruous way to view dead roots, and persistence is a human value we all can relate to. You are an amazing photographer, Tim. Your middle name should be "surprise."