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Kathryn
Sainsbury-
Wilkes
In 2019 I read The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, and subsequently Finding the Mother Tree by Susan Simard. I have been drawn to trees as if they are people since childhood, and this research proving their intelligence was both shocking and comforting. One day upon visiting a 600 year old Oak tree with my mother, she said "think of all the things this tree might have seen over its life. I hope one day scientists manage to figure out how to tap into them and somehow view their memories". I am not that accomplished of a scientist, so instead I found a way to give trees eyes through my experience in traditional photography. This project was created during a residency at Trebah Garden, each exposure is weeks or even months long, showing what is seen by some of the trees that live there.
After each photograph was collected, it was taken to the laboratory to be viewed under the microscope. Due to the nature of the process, where the photographic paper was in contact with the tree bark or even inside the tree where a hole was present, the paper had begun to be decomposed by the microbiome of its host. The bacteria, fungi and microorganisms living on and within the trees ate away at the gelatine contained within the paper and were growing within the physical image. In some cases the paper had even been nibbled by animals.
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