Tree Crowns

• Prize
  Bronze in Fine Art/Abstract, Gold in Nature/Trees
• Photographer
  Christoph Franke

Trees take center stage in my life. I feel a deep reverence for their unique nature as I create my images. For me, trees represent the connection between energy (air, light) and the material world (soil, earth). I opted to position the treetops upside down in the final work to invite the viewer to an encounter with the tree as a natural being. I guess it is a chance to meet the tree instead of just seeing and judging it with the intellect. Interestingly this is how they are projected onto our retina before our brain turns it round. I am fascinated by the trees appearance in wintertime with their web of branches connecting from the inside to the outside. Each time I am working on the tree crowns, I take numerous single frames to be assembled later. Through this intimate “face-to-face” with the trees, I want to capture the primordial energy of these ancient living beings. My series is based on a visualization of the alchemical formula “Above is one with below, inside is one with outside, spirit is one with body”.

I am inspired by the idea that photographs create associations in the brain not merely based on optical information but rather that – similar to water – they store and release energy. I am particularly interested in the principle of polarity. Opposites make the reality as we know it. It is with the help of the basic fondamentals above and below, light and shadow or yin and yang that we are able to perceive the material world. I feel that photography is an excellent medium to shine a light on these concepts. I would like to invite to a new experience of what we usually take for granted.