Beth Moon, a photographer based in San Francisco, has been searching for the world’s oldest trees for the past 14 years. She has traveled all around the globe to capture the most magnificent trees that grow in remote locations and look as old as the world itself.
“Standing as the earth’s largest and oldest living monuments, I believe these symbolic trees will take on a greater significance, especially at a time when our focus is directed at finding better ways to live with the environment” writes Moon in her artist statement.
Sixty of Beth Moon’s duotone photos were published in a book titled “Ancient Trees: Portraits Of Time”. Here you can have a sneak preview of the book, full of strangest and most magnificent trees ever.
More info: bethmoon.com | abbeville.com (h/t: colossal)
On that one, i disagree about the black and white choice. Trees are magnificent in their colors, they express so much more of their life!
Black & white better highlights the textures, which is mostly what makes them interesting.
Though I love color photos, black and white photos show texture in such magnificent depth and detail.
My father took photography classes from Ansel Adams in Yosemite during the summers when he was younger. He's only 67 now.
Doubtful, MPhillips. If they were 100, thatd be 1914 bday. Civil War ended in 1865. Assuming even a 15 yo served, thatd be a 64 yo fathering
"Ansel Adams died April 22, 1984 cbgray71. That's only 31 years ago." He was 82 at the time, so he would be 113 today.
If a man who was 18 years old man in 1863 sired a child at age 70, the child would be 100 today. Sounds quite implausible.
Ansel Adams died April 22, 1984 cbgray71. That's only 31 years ago.
I wish I could respond directly to UtiDeva, who claims to be a former printing assistant of Ansel Adams. He must've been an infant at the ti
To put it further into perspective, there are several people alive today whose parent was IN the Civil War...
Its not the shooting method, it's the chosen archival platinum printing process of the old masters that creates the tones. ala Ansel Adams.
As a former printing assistant of Adams I can assure you he did not use the platinum printing process. He used gelatin silver printing paper
As I looked at the pictures, I was thinking of some other artist with this style and you brought it back to my memory, Ansel Adams. Thanks!
Oh yeah! !
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True, but did you stop to consider savage b******e?
It's her medium to choose as an artist to show what she sees. B&W if you know how to "see" it brings out so much more depth, ancient wisdom.
I don't see it.
These are NOT black and white photos. They are duotones. They are not Photoshopped. Duotone is an artistic choice -- her choice.
It's platinum, she says so under PROCESS tab on her website,
Thank you. I have never heard of duotone. Is it digital, how does it work?
I *love* the infra-red (this isn't black and white) - it makes the trees look other-worldly.
Sorry, but these are platinum contact prints. http://www.bethmoon.com/Process3.html
Sorry but not infra red, but red filter and slow B&W film. Infra red would give a fuzzy, grainy look. Quite the opposite to these images.
Oh Stephen, you're a snob. Must one be an expert in all things photographic to express what they like or don't like?
Finally, someone that knows what they are looking at.
Some of these trees look washed out is that what infra red does?
The caption identifies it as duotone.
I used infrared film back in college and agree it can make the most mundane objects look like they're in the Land of Oz!
Exactly. I'm glad that someone else noticed the infra-red technique. These are amazing!
I was thinking the same thing. I wish the prints were in colour. Their magnificence would have been felt a lot more.
B&W shows a lot more detail than Color Film. The colors always look fake. Anyhow most mammals see B&W only. I vote with the photographer.
These aren't "overcooked" in Photoshop. These are Platinum prints, which are rare and wonderful and difficult to do.
You are not seeing what is there. You are only seeing what you are missing and missing what you are seeing.
To ghmcr: Most mammals do not see in Black & White.
Agreed, I prefer colour. However, the duotone does emphasize the tree structures, which are magnificent. As said before, artist's choice...
MikalCG is quite mistaken. Few animals can see colors ... birds and old world (but not new world) primates being exceptions.
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Exactly! Not sure where ghmcr is going - you can't get more fake than over-cooking an image with Photoshop which is the main problem here :(
a well balanced composition (considering all aspects), always look good in either color or b/w.
Maybe she did it just to give all the different photos a cohesive feel…?
She is entitled to her opinion- maybe she'd rather see less detail & enjoy all the colours of the trees & blue skies beyond- it's her choice
trees & Locations are Magnificent ! I wish there was colors. Colors are divine ! So few Colors available on Earth, So many in other realms !
Yes but she was more interested on the extraordinary forms
I also think the choice of black and white better represents the age of the trees as well gives you a really good feel for there textures. I do agree in many cases Color is the best choice when it comes to photographing almost everything in nature however in this case I believe the character of each tree would not have been as well represented. I thoroughly enjoyed all the examples that were shown and intend on looking for this book not only to enjoy the photo's but to also use them as excellent examples of differing textures for some of my own drawings.
I agree. Color is life :)
i agree.... if show both kinds. black and white and coloring
Guessing the reason is they may not all be taken in the colour spectrum anyway - some (the ones with white leaves) may be infrared
I completely agree. I was thinking the exact same
Color. http://shechive.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/angel-tree-0.jpg?w=920&h=588 http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ElRIwQj37RU/T_2w8us64-I/AAAAAAAAA
Some detail & beauty can be more easily seen in black and white. That is not to say everything should be in b and w or color either.
Disagree all you want. You and your "likes" are wrong. You just don't get black and white, which is your problem, not the artist's.
https://www.google.com/search?q=ancient+trees+images&espv=2&biw=1120&bih=578&tbm=isch&imgil=XA
Color pictures of trees are a dime a dozen and definately do not convey the magical quality and emotion of these time imorial giant beings.
Her's look cold and dead. http://images.finear...photography.jpg
that's your opinion, Kenneth. I like them more with color and wish we could see the originals. Thanks for the link, Louis.
B&W always sucks the life out of a picture.
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I agree. The B&W is too Harry Potter. I half expect the branches to reach out the photo and attack.
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I'm thinking the same. B&W forcing the viewer to think those picture (tree) is ancient, but look at picture 2, that's tire tracks.
What are you trying to say? The trees are ancient, not the photographs.
What possible difference can a tire track make to the age of the tree?
Color pallets are fads. Color images from the 80's look like c**p but B+W images from the 40's still look amazing. These deserved to be B+W.
These were printed with the absence of color to display the message that these are aged trees that are displayed with aged methods .
Perhaps the ancient trees are either side of a track dumbnuts and it's tyre in English peasant
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Yes, the black and white is a b******t choice that makes it all about the artist. Make it about the trees! Show them how they are. COLOR.
Wow. Someone who thinks his aesthetic preferences are the only legitmate ones has got to be a peach to be around.
It's not b******t. Someone is an art critic!
I wish we could get the location of these.
Go to http://www.bethmoon.com/TouchWood01.html, she has the names under the photos and then you can Google the locale.
Thanks! That's totally true!
Thanks
I agree. I would also love to know the species of photographed trees .
http://www.bethmoon.com/
That's the only part that I wish too, is the location and name of the tree. I recognize 1 tree, but no more.
several are baobab trees in africa and australia. they have the large, barrel-shaped trunks that store water.
I recognize a couple of them from Angkor Wat in Cambodia - I think the temple is called Ta Prohm, but I may be mistaken about that.
Most of the trees I see is from Socotra Island, an Ex Somali Island that is now under Yemen Control. This island is a home of the most extinct trees and animals in the world. Google Socotra and you will see it.
Names too!
# 15 Is Bristlecone Pine. One of the oldest living things on earth. There are some in eastern Cal. in the Inyo-White Mountains.
I am glad we can't, I don't want a person damaging one for the glory of their ego, religion or their general crass selfish arrogant stupidity.
me, too.
Hisory of trees @ogliethetree Instagram- a few of these are featured.
These trees are located on the Island of Socotra, off the horn of Africa
Lea I know for certain that at least one of these trees are in the US.. Methuselah !!
The point of them being in black and white is to express their age. They are as old as time, so b&w gives them thus atmosphere. Big like!
bethmoon.com she has color versions
Maybe if they were old photographs.
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B&W is totally artificial, and does not convey the reality of the tree. It's an artistic distortion, not a faithful photograph of the tree.
Can't agree, Roo. I would love to see color versions, too, but black & white photos are great for allowing us to see texture beyond color.
Distortion respect to what? What is the deal with 'reality', so elusive and subjective. Why is so important to be so attached to 'reality'?
Just the act of framing an image and deciding what to leave out is artistic "distortion" as well.
In reality B&W is real colour is artificially created in our minds & is the product of our imagination. It's physics :)
I think that's the point -- she's an artist, not a wildlife photog. Like Van Gogh -- talk about artistic distortion! Don't like, don't look!
False. This is the original way film was captured, printed, and presented for the first 100 years of photography. It is also how animals see
I believe we are animals and I don't know about poor +LesWestfallJr but i certantly see in full colour!
Colour in photos can be distraction. One sees many things in reality. However colour can sometimes detract from a subject.
On that one, i disagree about the black and white choice. Trees are magnificent in their colors, they express so much more of their life!
Black & white better highlights the textures, which is mostly what makes them interesting.
Though I love color photos, black and white photos show texture in such magnificent depth and detail.
My father took photography classes from Ansel Adams in Yosemite during the summers when he was younger. He's only 67 now.
Doubtful, MPhillips. If they were 100, thatd be 1914 bday. Civil War ended in 1865. Assuming even a 15 yo served, thatd be a 64 yo fathering
"Ansel Adams died April 22, 1984 cbgray71. That's only 31 years ago." He was 82 at the time, so he would be 113 today.
If a man who was 18 years old man in 1863 sired a child at age 70, the child would be 100 today. Sounds quite implausible.
Ansel Adams died April 22, 1984 cbgray71. That's only 31 years ago.
I wish I could respond directly to UtiDeva, who claims to be a former printing assistant of Ansel Adams. He must've been an infant at the ti
To put it further into perspective, there are several people alive today whose parent was IN the Civil War...
Its not the shooting method, it's the chosen archival platinum printing process of the old masters that creates the tones. ala Ansel Adams.
As a former printing assistant of Adams I can assure you he did not use the platinum printing process. He used gelatin silver printing paper
As I looked at the pictures, I was thinking of some other artist with this style and you brought it back to my memory, Ansel Adams. Thanks!
Oh yeah! !
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
True, but did you stop to consider savage b******e?
It's her medium to choose as an artist to show what she sees. B&W if you know how to "see" it brings out so much more depth, ancient wisdom.
I don't see it.
These are NOT black and white photos. They are duotones. They are not Photoshopped. Duotone is an artistic choice -- her choice.
It's platinum, she says so under PROCESS tab on her website,
Thank you. I have never heard of duotone. Is it digital, how does it work?
I *love* the infra-red (this isn't black and white) - it makes the trees look other-worldly.
Sorry, but these are platinum contact prints. http://www.bethmoon.com/Process3.html
Sorry but not infra red, but red filter and slow B&W film. Infra red would give a fuzzy, grainy look. Quite the opposite to these images.
Oh Stephen, you're a snob. Must one be an expert in all things photographic to express what they like or don't like?
Finally, someone that knows what they are looking at.
Some of these trees look washed out is that what infra red does?
The caption identifies it as duotone.
I used infrared film back in college and agree it can make the most mundane objects look like they're in the Land of Oz!
Exactly. I'm glad that someone else noticed the infra-red technique. These are amazing!
I was thinking the same thing. I wish the prints were in colour. Their magnificence would have been felt a lot more.
B&W shows a lot more detail than Color Film. The colors always look fake. Anyhow most mammals see B&W only. I vote with the photographer.
These aren't "overcooked" in Photoshop. These are Platinum prints, which are rare and wonderful and difficult to do.
You are not seeing what is there. You are only seeing what you are missing and missing what you are seeing.
To ghmcr: Most mammals do not see in Black & White.
Agreed, I prefer colour. However, the duotone does emphasize the tree structures, which are magnificent. As said before, artist's choice...
MikalCG is quite mistaken. Few animals can see colors ... birds and old world (but not new world) primates being exceptions.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Exactly! Not sure where ghmcr is going - you can't get more fake than over-cooking an image with Photoshop which is the main problem here :(
a well balanced composition (considering all aspects), always look good in either color or b/w.
Maybe she did it just to give all the different photos a cohesive feel…?