Story by Zoe Naylor | Contributing Writer
Photos by Darwin Alberto | Photographer
Photographer and author David Paul Bayles spoke about his many photography projects on the multifaceted beauty of trees at Middle Tennessee State University on Feb. 19.
His work — much of which centers around trees and forestry — included evocative portraits of loggers, shots of falling trees, dreamy forest images, and surreal photographs of trees in urban landscapes.
Bayles fell in love with the practice of logging in Northern California the summer before photography school in 1973.
“One summer turned into four years setting chokers, bumping knots and skinning cats,” he said.
His exhibition includes portraits of fellow loggers, and he shared their stories in his presentation. Bayles spoke of the men fondly, telling the origins of their nicknames, stories they shared on the job and dangerous mishaps at work.
David Bayles made sure to emphasize the realness of the forest, discouraging his audience from romanticizing logging and hard labor. Some of his photographs depict a dreamy haze in which light glimmers and the world seems to pause for a moment. In reality, this haze is caused by harmful dust that settles in your lungs, ears and eyes — one of the many dangers of the job. “It’s really not romantic at all,” said Bayles.
In discussing his “Falling Trees” series, Bayles described how he found connections between life and death among the trees. After photographing a tree being felled, he realized he wanted to capture “that poetic moment of transition between life and death, between vertical and horizontal,” made all the more relevant because Bayles himself survived a near-death experience while logging. This black-and-white series poignantly exemplifies these drastic juxtapositions. Even the feeling of being alone but connected with the trees is communicated through the photographs.
Bayles’ next series, “Urban Forest,” focused on the absurdity of palm trees in the urban landscape. “To me, they were humorous. Ironic. Out of place,” said the artist. His images eerily depicted Saguaro cacti that had been cut down, palm trees drooping in parking lots and tree stumps cemented into sidewalks. This series represented the idea of a trichotomy — that people are made of a body, soul and spirit. All three are necessary for a person and “for our planet as well,” said Bayles.
The series “Old Growth Dialogue” depicts the Andrews Forest and its “magical realism.” This series is unique because it provides a dialectical perspective on the interior and exterior of trees. The Andrews Forest has equipment to measure humidity, soil moisture and air temperature at regular intervals throughout the day. Each photograph in the series is paired with a strip of data showing this information at the exact moment the photo was taken. “It’s like the interior of the forest is creating this drawing for me, telling me about what’s going on inside the forest,” explained the artist.
To see what stories the trees have to tell, “Still, Trees” is at the Baldwin Photographic Gallery in the Bragg Building until Mar. 10.
To contact Lifestyles Editor Ethan Pickering, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com.
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