With the senescence of autumn, the landscape takes on a loneliness; a barrenness, despite the skeletal remains of plants and trees dotting the hillsides; a sense of melancholy. The lush, noisy days of summer are gone. A quiet settles over the land. On frosty mornings, the solitude is almost palpable.
My latest series of sepia-toned portraits in the landscape reflect that sorrow, that isolation, and the loss of something both rare and fine.
November's Child
The Distance From Me to You
The Leaning Tree
If Only
In the Changing Light
I Remember
The formal gowns in these photos relate a sense of being all dressed up with nowhere to go or of the party being over, a sense of something that was but no longer exists. The black shawl speaks of protection against the elements. The gowns contrast in texture and context with the rustic backdrop, whether it be the fluffy heads of dead goldenrods and asters in the meadow or the log siding of my house.
Seasons change, time marches onward, people come and go from our lives. Birthdays come (mine is next week); we grow older. These photographs honor those inevitable changes and our ability to not only withstand them, but to persevere with grace and one's sense of self intact.
Happy November. Happy dio de los muertos.
Until next time...
Anne