Black-and-white photograph of a lone leafless tree on a rocky, seaweed-covered shore, with a shallow foreground pool and a calm sea beyond.

Where Branches Remain

MG-0143

2020-07-20

About this piece

A leafless tree spreads its angular limbs above an exposed shoreline, its branching silhouette set against a broad, pale sky. In Mike Gedj’s black-and-white photograph, scattered stones and shallow water give the foreground a textured density beneath the clean line of the sea.

The story

I framed the tree to one side, leaving room for the sea and sky to stretch beside it. My eye kept returning to the shallow pool, where pale stones broke the surface and strands of seaweed traced the bottom. Above that intricate ground, the branches seemed almost spare. I wanted to hold both scales in the photograph: the small details gathered at my feet and the long, uninterrupted distance beyond the shore.

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