O CHRISTMAS TREE : something to make a smile

I was at a cookie party last weekend and mention this project one of the guests sent me this picture ; less than 25 words .

O CHRISTMAS TREE : a quiet one

My first Christmas in New York it snowed.I was alone ,with a new job.I was staying on West 74th Street with a follow Alabamian who went home for the holidays.Like a lot of starry eyed outsiders I did not have plans or money,but.Christmas must be celebrated so each evening on my way from work I would pick up discarded branches from tree vendors around the neighborhood until I had enough to fill the room with the smell of forest.In those days I was so proud that I could not stoop for beauty so with what little cash I had a trip to W.W.Woolworths for a box of 12 silver glass ornaments and a copy of the I Hear A Symphony by The Supremes.

My first Christmas in New York was near perfect there was youth and dreams there was a happiness that come from beginning to become an adult and doing for yourself.Christmas should always be a little bittersweet.

My first Christmas in New York it snowed heavily ,I think maybe 14 inches and the city became very quiet .life was simple needs too.This image is repeated 12 times one for each month while we wait.I love it because it is quiet it is also by Joanna Knox

O CHRISTMAS TREE : family stories

The first Christmas I really really remember was a good old fashion one ,somewhere in the beginning of the fifties,on a little farm outside of Birmingham Alabama.(funny thing when I say Birmingham there can be no other).I am talking coal stoves to heat and cook,wells and pumps for water some of the time and that crescent moon box outside.My grandmother and aunt lived in this wilderness and I had to stay with them , this is always a problem for little people who need a lot of attention. The evil of adults and their meaning less rules.My inner Stewie suffered.

Now of course the emphasis was on the food which was right starting with ham , turkey ,corn bread stuffing ,green beans, cranberry sauce ( a favorite,never enough)sweet potatoes and marshmallows, a few cakes the supreme coconut with butter frosting. I am not a winter root pie fan so my aunt made me banana pudding and my grandmother made me lemon meringue pie.I got all dressed up on Christmas eve in cloths made for me by my grand mother (a great regret is that I do not have any of those cloths) to wait for something special to happen.Tiring so my attention and I drifted off.

The next morning a tricycle, Red Flyer wagon,a Roy Rogers outfit with pearl handles and few other gifts of a country unaware of the Korean war was left for me.The one I cling to and has made a part of my traditions along with the tree is a box containing tangerines, pecans and peppermint candy . My Christmas does not start until a few family albums are looked at , carols are song even if I alone .I put out some bright and shiny things. Most of all I have to have tangerines pecans and peppermint stick.I would be lost in the holiday without these things.

A couple asides I sing Christmas song when ever I am down. who would think tangerines were once consider precious

Donna Rosser who has been a great help to me and SlowExposure loves history tradition and loves her family so this post has her tree and details all the ornaments are framed images of her family members. I thought how neat,it looks like her albums exploded across her tree.But I can imagine the fun at her home doing the holidays when people drop in and try to guess who all these friends and family are.Me I love at my heavy silver German ball,well let's just say I kniw that reflection

O CHRISTMAS TREE : a winter collage

This magical Christmas tree photograph was taken by Jo Lynn Still who also took the snowflakes.Jo Lynn work was featured in Southern Memories . The cyanotype is an early image by John Patrick Dugdale. My wish is that you print these and pin them up and maybe smile as you think about the possibilities of Christmas

O CHRISTMAS TREE CAVALCADE : outside my moving window

A Christmas tree and lights is something to share.In the past few years the attention has been focus on the homes that reflect the competition of holiday display.Which has evolved into ways to support charities and make spectaculars for kids and also keep a lot of retired couples busy. The line usually goes something like this " we start in October. " I chose these photographs because they show the surprise of light in the dark.The top image is by Paul Raeside the tree is and is not, maybe it is a tree for the forest that looms around it . What I love is the simple iconic shape and the fact that in that simplicity it stands pure among the great trees in the background .The second picture is by Jerry Siegel taken with a camera phone.I call it the save me moment.There is little going on as you drive down a long stretch of road not even a front porch light and all of a sudden you see this and you smile and feel a little sad but mostly you smile and wonder about the tree inside.I also feel that this belongs to someone who loves Christmas or has the tradition embedded but doesn't have the time to refine his display.Notice the details like the candy canes in the front yard,the reflection in the car windows and that little read light in the yard is that a monitoring device . I think there are young children in this house.

O CHRISTMAS TREE ! O CHRISTMAS TREE

at heart I am a pagan, I may pretend that I have been seduced by the great flow of thought about what happens after we die.Like most I try to live and be good which can be really boring no really really boring and at the most boring part we are rewarded with Christmas.I wish the winter solstice could just be called the world is having a party for two weeks. There will be lots of canapes and drinks dancing singing being a fool noticing your family and being nice to everyone.Often wonder why can't people be like they are in December all year long ,I think it takes a lot of effort and then it becomes boring too.

You know the Christmas tree is a pagan tradition,it stem from the basic idea of let's sacrifice something maybe the gods will leave us alone or not . So over time people created a ritual to go out into the woods hacking away,dragging the thing back, ending it life and then for a few bright moments making it an object of desire, I love Christmas trees and the rituals behind them

In the following days we will gaze at images of Christmas trees taken by some of the artists who were a part of the Southern Memories : Part I, that was held in Pike County Georgia this past fall as well as images that made me happy that other artist have sent to celebrate the season. The parking lot , a photographs by Tony Stamosis taken ca. 2007/2008 is kinda sad but behind that sign we can see trees to come.The other picture was taken from Donna Rosser's a picture a day series on December 5, I call it On the Way to Zebulon.

JB3

Not another rambleing post, well , yes it is

Legend has it that when I started to collect around 1990 I never spent more than a couple hundred dollars at most.In fact the first photograph I purchased was a Christmas present for myself it was by a guy name Mario Z. I had seen it on the cover of a local newspaper the spring before,The paper called the New York Native, now long defunct , helped me find the artist I went to meet him on a gray evening .He was moving into a new apartment .We had a long visit I told him why I liked his work and why he not Mapplethorpe was going to be my very first purchased,I really did stopped in my tracks when I saw his image on the newsstand.It was simple and direct.I could live within the moment he was showing me.There was mystery and there was memory.Mario Z sold me his photograph for 80. dollars I still have it , of course the Mapplethorpe came later but I will never forget the first time let us hope that evening that closeness in discussing a piece of art becoming a part of a conversation some one else had started ,A few month later I heard that Mario had died it was the best of times it was the worst of times.I am stopping for the moment to Goggle and to get myself together

This was going to be a happy up beat Christmas post , It still will be .I am asked a lot lately what am I buying and the answers is usually well made books.I love falling in love with a single image but in my mind and heart I know and feel that most artists make many images that reveal their point of view more precisely in a photo essay or a series

Where have the good photographs under a thousand dollars gone They are still here but more than likely not in a New York Gallery.I have started to purchase a new type of photograph usually 8x10,usually a small run of fifty created by a new generation of artists ,who use their skills /gift to help raise money for causes they believe in . Photographers have over the years directly supported many causes,But I began to notice this newer trend with New Orleans and Katrina and it was used by artists during the last election. I just purchased two images for Haitian relief created by the artist Wyatt Gallery .

A question is need here, Why do we make photographs ,why do we buy photographs ? Just a question

Getting to Donna Rosser whose image is featured in this post who supports not only SlowExposures but among many other causes THe Southern Conservation Trust.I am stopping at this point to let Donna speak for herself.

" These are the photos taken at Line Creek in Peachtree City Georgia. Line Creek is one of the properties managed by Southern Conservation Trust. The Trust is one of the beneficiaries of the photo show I direct -- Nature Undisturbed Everything about this show is on our website" -- www.natureundisturbed.com

Donna has been photographing Line Creek for years -- the first blog she ever wrote was about photographing at the creek. Donna has created a small limited edition portfolio which is limited to 15. The cost is $400 for the set of 6 photos Image size is 12x8 printed on 14x11 sheets of Kodak Endura paper. These sets are available at Dogwood Gallery & Framer in Tyrone, GA -- www.dogwoodgallery.net -- 770-774-3524. The gallery owner is Greg Blair.

I am thinking about getting a set and splitting it up to share with my friends that love nature photographs too.