| I am a photographer
and artist living in Saint Paul, Minnesota. While traveling for work or pleasure
I sometimes have occasion to photograph subjects of personal interest. One
of my favorite subjects is historic trees. I grew up tagging along with my
father, an amateur botanist, on walks through arboreta and forests. His love
of trees and nature fortunately took root in me as well. Another abiding
personal interest is history and it's visible influence on America's landscape.
I enjoy seeing how events, values, legislation and historic figures have
shaped our nation's urban and rural landscapes. So I thought that it might
be cool to combine these interests and photograph their intersection; historic
trees.
Most of my effort on this project is spent just finding where the trees are. I have managed to find a number of old books about famous and historic trees (see Bibliography) and current references to historic trees on the web (see Links). Since many references on historic trees date from the 20's and 30's (when there was renewed interest in American Colonial history) it is usually necessary for me to corroborate information by contacting librarians and historians. Once I eventually find a historic tree I like to document it thoroughly as well as recording any evidence of human interaction with the trees (i.e. monuments, markers, maintenance, etc.) because that's where my interest in history is visible. So far this is a personal interest project: I like spending time with the trees! As a person who works in the commercial photography industry I am very sensitive to the rights of the owners of these trees. I always seek their approval and make arrangements before shooting. For me this project is more than just old trees. I'm interested in showing when possible the relationships people have to the trees in their landscape. Partly what got me interested in this idea was so much empty talk about "the environment". I hear people talk about the environment but then I see them drive inefficient vehicles or fill in another wetland. I want to remind folks that "the environment" isn't just a rainforest in Brazil; its your backyard. So in my own mild way I am trying to personalize the environment. I want to show individual relationships with individual trees. Is there a historic tree that you know of that you would like to see photographed and preserved? I'd love to hear from you! Email me at jeffkrueger at earthlink dot net . For more information about myself and other projects check out the following pages:
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