The Slow Whisper of Trees- A portfolio

Trees are history, they hold our memories, they have seen things. They are life, love, loss. They are figures upon our landscape essential and necessary, but often taken for granted, or never really seen. Trees are beautiful but can have a menace about them too, stick thin and towering sometimes, bent and knarled at others. Solitary sentients of our world or pulsating swathes of forest. They have stood as guardians over us for centuries, as silent witnesses. They bear the marks of living upon their bodies, much as we do.

The Slow Whisper Of Trees is in part a visual poem of all these ideas, but it is also an exploration of my own fears, and wonderment as I make my way in this world. A small musing on the cyclical nature of things; of memory, loss, impermanance, balance. A reminder of the interconnectness of all things.

All images © Claire Gilliam

It started with a whisper.

That sound upon the air

Frozen, held, suspended

Then propelled forward

Into time, towards End.

Imprinted upon the land

Stories are told then

Of this cyclical life

And our place in it.

Our birth, our death.

These are our whispers

Echoed upwards, and on

Circles of thought and 

Connected history 

Cradled by long limbs.

Amongst the deep crevices of

Bark and branch

Inky memories etch their way

To coil our loss and love

tightly bound, taken root.

For anyone who cares to look,

Delve deep and long

Or to quietly sit and listen,

The slow whisper grows loud

To tell beyond our decay.

Trees in Winter

I'm in no way a digital photographer, but I do like to mess around on my i-Phone camera! Its so convenient because its usually always on me! Anyway, yesterday, on my bus journey into the City, I was so taken with how beautiful the woods along the Skyline Drive looked, with fresh snow fall and sparkling with ice, (and with my project in mind) that I just had to snap a few pictures. There are of course limits to the control on this little camera, and you just have to accept what you get more often then not, especially when on the move as I was in a NJ Transit bus! Having played with them a little in i-Photo this morning, I am happily surprised by the images. I thought I'd share them with you.

Birth Of A New Project.

Well, it's a new year (almost Spring, in fact!), and an entirely new creative body of work is under way. I've taken a step back from the self-portraits, and have turned my camera onto my surroundings. It has taken me a few months to get as excited about this work, as I did with my last portfolio 'I Am My Body'. Photography is a strange and wondrous art form; it is obvious that you make pictures because there is something about the scene in front of you that interests you, but quite often you have no idea what that something may be. And yet out of all that doubt, usually with perseverance and faith, something unexpected and magical happens.

A bit of explanation here.... my formal education in the UK was all about concept, that is, a formulation of an idea into a visual realisation. It was not in any way about creating a beautiful thing for its own sake. An art piece had to mean something. It has taken me many years to escape from this mindset, and quite often has been more of a creative block in my work. I confess I am not fully free of it yet, but I view that as a good thing, for what I have started to achieve I believe, is a balance of visual aesthetics, craft, and idea. I tell you this because my new, as yet untitled project has been one big lesson in faith. In the beginning I had no idea what I was doing. I struggled to know why I was taking pictures of trees, yet I was compelled to keep making them. What was I trying to say with the images, what were they about?  Was it ok that the work was so different from my previous stuff? I worried about not having a singular visual voice, the force which adds coherence to your work as an artist. All this worry was getting in the way. I just had to keep shooting, and believing that all this would come together. And finally it has and to my relief, I feel a deep connection with the images.

I have posted a couple of images as examples, but they are poor renditions to the original prints, being digital snaps of the actual photographs pinned to my wall, and don't really do them justice. But you get the idea I hope.

A Happy and Creative New Year

My apologies for my non communication over the past several weeks. What can I say, tis the season and all that....or rather, it was.  Now that we have entered into a new year, I feel I should start as I mean to go on, determinedly, and creatively. I am excited to discover what 2009 will bring forth. Happy New Year one and all. More tomorrow I promise, but for now I leave you with a couple of quiet reflective images from my plant series.........

Some Autumn Colour

All images © Claire Gilliam

I start out today with a couple of shots of Autumn Colour, taken in my back yard........it's been quite amazing this year and I have recently had a burst of enthusiasm for getting out the digital camera, (and also the colour film!) to capture some of it. In fact I am heading out shortly to Wawayanda State Park, NJ in search of some more autumn splendour.

News this month.........

Since I last posted, I have discovered that I will not be awarded the Photographer's Fellowship Fund. Initially I was disappointed but have got over that very quickly! There's always next year, and I hoping I'll have an even stronger body of work to put forward.

 The 1st November marks the opening night of the Annual Small Works Show at Bertoni Gallery in Sugarloaf, NY. It is a small venue, but fun to enter. This will be my 3rd year exhibiting work at this gallery: three photographs from 'Family Matters'. My husband Gene will also be showing a piece, a beautiful portrait of one of his sons.

The beginning of October marked the first weekend of the six month ICP course "The Independent Project" with Chuck Kelton, master printer to the likes of Danny Lyon, Helen Leavitt, and Mary Ellen Mark to name just a few, and a tremendous teacher to boot. The time spent working with Chuck, and my fellow students is exhilarating, and exhausting, but by the time Sunday evening comes around we are all infused with huge amounts of creative energy to see us through to the next class in a few weeks time. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I am working on printing some self portraits first made a year or so ago. I am really excited by these images, and can't wait to see them completed. The talent in this class is exceptional and I am very excited to see the final portfolios of work we all produce. If it is anything like last year's class we are all in for a treat. I will leave you with couple of links below....click on them to see the work of two of my fellow classmates projects: Jorge Luis Monteagudo, and Wendy Paton. Stunning and beautiful work........ 

flower contemplations

Snowblosson(2007)

pineneedles (2007)