Is there anyone among us that hasn’t imagined what life would be like as a tree? Didn’t think so. In Arboreality, Seattle photographer Laurel Schultz gets us a little closer to the feeling. By climbing into the canopy to click off shots, Schultz gives us a new perspective on these living beings we often don’t notice, inviting us to bridge the gap between nature and culture by imagining life from their points of view.
From her artist statement:
Trees are good to think with. They are living metaphors for our relationship with the natural world and ourselves. Most often we look at these green lives. In this body of work I instead try to look with them. Can a different perspective and a wider field of view create a momentary connection with other lives that surround us? Of course trees don’t see, but they are keenly aware of light and exquisitely sensitive to their immediate environments. Perhaps if, even momentarily we can feel our way towards a different relationship with a nature we imagine we are separate from, we can see ourselves differently in the world.