Today I Made A Tree

Notes from my daily photography experiments #6

I’ve been fascinated by the form of the tree for several years. In my hometown of Nara, they have these wild and rigorous roots erupting from the ground. In Japan, they insist on their nature to be tidy, but these roots have asserted their dominance and told the naysayers “We are here to stay, we are here to grow!” They are pellucid in their intent. For years I’ve stood in awe at their silent power, tracing their rigid lines with my fingertips. A more intimate version of tree-hugging, perhaps.

Weeks of prep for my upcoming photoshoot leave me here. Today’s post is less of a photo experiment, but more of a little peek into what has been keeping me preoccupied these days. For this reason, it’s been quite hard to create daily images for my own pleasure, because there is no time to imagine what would grant me that amusement. But I suppose that is part of this particular challenge, even though remaining in the same location for weeks on end isn’t conducive to its variety.

I’m currently building a video course for the process of my larger, more complicated photoshoots, as well as the thought process that goes behind it. I find it a bit humorous in including the “thought process” because a huge chunk of it requires none at all, and simply hours of menial work, shaping white clay with pruned hands, cutting delicate crepe paper into crimson petals, and burning the tips of your fingers on hot glue guns, completely obliterating any trace of fingerprints.

Also, instead of well-directed thought, the process involves a lot of instinct. The first few weeks I spent creating, I made a big batch of tiny cherry blossoms. But alas, I couldn't neglect the gnawing feeling that they could be better. So with that, I completely changed the design and started from scratch. But I was right, they are so much better now.

Instinct can be many things and knowing when you are on the right track. For me, it is as simple as looking at what I make, and then I smile, and my chest fills with elation. That’s how you know it's good. When you look at it, and you can’t stop smiling.

I’ve been smiling more than usual, so I think I’m doing something right.

DAILY PHOTO EXPERIMENTS: Day 1: A Week of Mimicking Flowers Day 2: The Optimism of a Watermelon Day 3: The White Flowers That Danced Before The Night Sky Day 4: A Celebration of Procrastination Day 5: The Statue That Looked More Human Than I Felt Day 6: Today I Made A Tree