Artists in Inventory

 

Editorial Features

David's Falling Trees images have recently been used in editorials for two respected magazines, Orion and the Dutch magazine Quote. Click the images below to download a PDF of those articles. Congratulations, David!

Artist Statement

In the mid-70s I worked as a logger on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to earn money for photography school. A decade later, while photographing loggers in northern California for a museum show, I saw the felling of a tree in an entirely new way. I felt compelled to record all the opposing forces of energy at play in those few seconds.

At first the motion is slight and distinct. A vibration moves quickly up the tree, its top shakes and quivers until the moment gravity takes hold. The sounds are individual and clear. There is a creak, a screech, a crackle as the fibers rip apart, separating the tree into stump and log.

As the falling tree gains momentum, sound and motion begin to blur. The surrounding trees, still standing, sway back and forth. Breaking limbs —veiled retorts—ricochet like gunshot or backfire.

When the tree hits the ground, the sound is indistinguishable from the sensation. It is deep and thunderous. It pounds your eardrums and sends a shockwave up your legs. You see, hear, and feel the moment simultaneously.

Artist Biography

David Paul Bayles is an accomplished photographer who has been showing his photographs of trees and forests since 1982. His photographs examine the interdependence of forests and trees, people and communities. In 2003 Sierra Club Books published Bayles’ first monograph, Urban Forest. His photographs are in collections around the world including the Portland Art Museum, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin and Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.