Record of a Journey

[kencameron]

Responses?

[MikeB55]

Interesting composition which provokes some questions. Can you elaborate on the location and context?

Mike

[shutterpup]

I assume you speak of the slug that has traversed more than once. This is clever, with a clever title, but the litter at the top of the frame is distracting.

[WalterEG]

My reading of this fine, and very Aussie, image is that the so-called litter is an important and informative element establishing context.

Lovely shot Ken.

[MikeB55]

Wow - too subtle for me but I'm not familiar with slug trails.  Why Aussie?

Mike

[kencameron]

The image is of the trail left under the bark of a tree by a small beetle. It is a common and much photographed sight in Australia - Walter or Tony Jay might have their own images - also (for example) see here. This shot is a little different in that it is of the fallen bark rather than the tree trunk. Thanks to all for the feedback. I think my concept needs the leaf litter, but I take the point about it being a distraction.

[WalterEG]

Why Aussie?

Mike

Because from being knee-height to a grasshopper all us Aussie kids went on family pic-nics and spent hours playing in eucalypt leaf litter.  And Ken's rendition is not only a visual clue but also an olfactory clue for me.

[Tony Jay]

Ken there is nothing wrong with this composition.
The context is absolutely everything here.
That leaf litter belongs absolutely completely in the frame and establishes the context as quintessentially Australian - the bark makes you wonder but the Eucalytpus leaf litter unequivocally establishes its origins.

I think this image is a winner and arguably the best image that I have seen from you.
Congratulations!

Tony Jay

[shutterpup]

Now that I get the environmental part of the story, I see how the litter is an important part of the photo. But...it has meaning in that respect only to those who have experienced the area first hand. Makes me think of diary entries passed off as poetry that is of interest only to the writer.

That sounded like a put-down; it wasn't. But you can see why those of us who lack the Australian experience are going to respond as we did. It is not a universal image, understood by everyone.

[WalterEG]

But you can see why those of us who lack the Australian experience are going to respond as we did. It is not a universal image, understood by everyone.

I'd suggest that, like all photographs, this photograph communicates to different folk in different ways.  Based on common experience, the image does resonate in a particular way with Australians, but that is not to say that it does not have other merits.

Frankly, I see the two bars of bark laid in front of the random shapes of the leaf litter to be a pleasing textural contrast which echoes the random trails.  Truth be known, it is probably Ken's colour and tonality that accurately hits the spot and makes the image sing for me.

We have no aspen forests in Australia, but when we see yet another row of aspen trunks we can appreciate them for what they are and acknowledge the intent of the author.

[Tony Jay]

...But you can see why those of us who lack the Australian experience are going to respond as we did. It is not a universal image, understood by everyone...

Absolutely no issue with this statement.
However, "full" understanding of its context is not necessarily mandatory in enjoying and interpreting the image.
Sometimes the more intriguing the image, and the more questions it raises, the better.
Ken could easily have chosen to interpret this scene in many different ways but he chose to frame the primary subject of the image with the leaf litter - why he did it raises the level of interest precisely because of all the questions it raises.

Regards

Tony Jay

[kencameron]

Here are four more shots, done to document the phenomenon rather than for critique (although critique is always welcome of course)

The first shows the scribble under new bark. The beetle may have been at work under there at the time.

The second and third show the scribble on a trunk from which a layer of bark has peeled off and fallen.

The fourth shows the traces of a much larger insect, some kind of grub I suspect.

I think the lines are beautiful and that any quality in photographs of them is largely due to the work of the original artists (the insects)

I also think one of the pleasures of photography is that it encourages a close engagement with the natural world.

[Tony Jay]

...I also think one of the pleasures of photography is that it encourages a close engagement with the natural world...

I certainly agree with that statement.
Top marks Ken!

Regards

Tony Jay