Every Tree in Town

On the way home yesterday, I noticed a tremendous and truly splendid trail of trees growing in the grassy median separating northbound and southbound travelers. Equally spaced, healthy, and thriving, each one was perfect in its own way. What type of tree were they? How long had they been there? Who had planted them? How did the city decide on these things, anyway?

All of this made me think about the friend who’d sent me that shoebox of autumn leaves during that first fall in Texas.

Last fall, after I’d written about that situation, I’d wondered what had become of him. A quick google search revealed that he’d become a photographer—apparently a very successful and well-respected one, at that.

Guess what his subject of choice was? Trees. I read in his bio that one of his first major projects was called 'Every Tree in Town'.

From his website:

Every Tree in Town is part of Postcards of Next Door. As I walked every street in Willimantic, Connecticut, I attempted to photograph every spruce tree. The tree is a living remnant of the town’s industrial past. The trees were planted and made popular by the many Northern European immigrants working in the textile mills. The series consists of 1,017 images of 2,183 trees.

I was not surprised—I’d known he was destined for greatness from the moment we’d met. However, I was especially impressed by his topic of choice. Can you imagine the dedication, passion, and commitment it would take to canvass the town—on foot—to locate and photograph 2,183 trees?

As I looked out the car window at the Texas Instruments satellite campus, I wondered how many trees I could photograph before losing patience or interest.

There were at least ten surrounding the parking lot, and that seemed like too many.

Every tree in town?

I am so very proud of my friend.

This photo of my friend was on the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's website.
http://lmcc.betterbiz.org/ideas-home/?id=24