Sunday, August 5, 2007

Antique Bowers


Once they were as ubiquitous as stone walls in New England, those neatly planted rows of trees that marked a roadway's approach to a farmstead and canopied the way with a cathedral of branches. Long ago those vaulting limbs provided cool respite for the farmer in his summer chores or the neighbor passing by. Even more than the physical shade they provided, they were a mark of pride and neighborliness and civilization. Where these survive today, they still comfort our eye as we pass at carbonated speeds. I never pass without thinking of the farmer who measured and planted and nurtured each tree. Did he think about the generations to follow that might continue to stop in the shade of his bower?

Shot this evening at Hillside Farm for my neighbors.

To learn more about the upcoming CAMERA'S EYE exhibition, "Fog, Mist, Flowers, & Clouds," visit http://the-cameras-eye.blogspot.com/

4 comments:

Ginnie Hart said...

I know exactly how this feels, Ted! What a view from the shade!

I wish the best for your exhibition this weekend (we'll be in Michigan for Farm Day!). I received the lovely postcard yesterday and will want to know how/where that was done (once you have time).

Emery Roth said...

Thanks for the good wishes. The postcard photo was taken a year ago in my favorite meadow. Not sure there was anything specific in the shooting except that the f-stop was as small as possible. With the light conditions that meant it had to eb a tripod shot. What else do you want to know?

The colors in the fog were so subtle that I totally missed it when I first reviewed that days' shoot. Some months later I went back through the shoot and was amazed that I had passed that by without notice. Sometimes one must have distance from the day's work to properly appreciate.

Lynette said...

I love this photo. It is what I think of when I think of rural New England. The light is beautiful.

Emery Roth said...

Thanks for visiting and leaving a note, Lynette. Indeed, this farm is true, rural New England. That's where I live though I try to view it as a tourist. For the past year I've been especially focusing on our vanishing farmsteads. I visited your blog and read the story of your debit card. Glad it turned out OK. Like you, I have entered my early sixties and my wife and I are enjoying our two-year-old grandson, Aiden. How did you find my blog? I hope you'll stop by again some time.