Kalaloch Tree of Life

Author's Comments

I have stood under this tree at low tide in February and watched the wind move through roots that should not be holding anything up. The soil beneath the spruce is simply gone - washed out into a shallow cave that the surf carves a little deeper every winter - and yet the tree persists, suspended over the absence as if by argument alone. It is the most honest metaphor I have ever photographed, and I try not to lean on that too heavily when I am working. The composition that interests me is not the wide shot from the beach, though that is the obvious frame and it does work. It is the portrait from inside the cave, looking up through the lattice of roots toward whatever sky is on offer. On overcast days, which is most days here, the roots read almost graphic against the soft gray, and the scale of the thing becomes something you feel rather than measure. On the rare clear afternoon, a low sun will rake through the root system from the west and turn the whole structure into something closer to sculpture. Come at low tide. You need the beach access to get the angles that matter, and a pushing tide will cut your time short and make the cave unsafe. The pullout is unmarked and easy to miss. Walk the short path down, keep well back from the bluff edge above, and give yourself an hour at minimum. This is not a tree you photograph quickly. It asks you to sit with it, and the longer you stay, the more the frame reveals itself.

Gallery