Under water

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few years shooting around water, in particular at the edge of various urban ponds. (Look here and here.) This image, which is of the bark of a three-flowered maple that’s not in the best of health, reminds me of water. Could just be me, but I see a flowing, almost barnacle-like surface.

That’s just my first impression, as I process it. You may see this immediately as tree bark, or as something different, or as nothing at all, by which I mean it may not represent anything other than what it is.  We all look in different ways, attracted (or not) to different elements of an image.

 For me, each image reveals itself at a different moment of the process – sometimes it’s the capture, more often it’s during post-processing. Sometimes it’s intentional; sometimes it’s a blessed accident. I didn’t set out to make a picture of tree bark that appears to be under water. The composition emerged and when it was complete, that’s what it seemed to be. I’m not sure what I think of this. I rarely am, a couple of days after I make a picture.  

 As usual, this needs to marinate.