Research Thomas Pakenham

"My research of other Photographers' work begins with a book that caught my eye in the college class by THOMAS PACKENHAM entitled "Remarkable Trees Of The World" (see cover below). Thomas Packenham lives in County Westmeath, Ireland, is a photographer and writer and I chose him because his work falls into my theme; I love trees and also want to photograph them, and he has spent a decade hunting and taking photographs of trees. In this, his second book, he travels the globe choosing 60 trees to shoot and write about. He produced this work in October 2002.
Packenham's  first book covered 60 trees throughout England and Ireland which he did in 1996 entitled "Meetings With Remarkable Trees." A television series followed.  He has won awards for his books, is Chairman of the Irish Tree Society and plants trees for both ornament and profit.

There was only 3  principles to the way he chose his trees: (1) "Each tree must be alive, or dead on their feet; (2) They must have strong personality ie. to the extent that his wife would say 'Wow' when they walked together in its presence; (3) They must have good face: meaning that they present a face to his camera which will make a portrait."

I admire his spirit as an explorer travelling far in pursuit of his passion. I also like the way he gives descriptive names to the trees, labelling them Gods, Godesses, Dwarfes, Methuselahs, Ghosts and Trees in Peril, highlighting how easy it is to lose grand examples of 'Natures Wonders'. He describes the trees characters and refers to them as having personalities.

I connected to his work when he described how he lost his favourite 200 year old Beech tree in his garden (see image below) due to storms. He said he felt the loss like a bereavement he had been so attached to it. This touched a chord with me as I remembered feeling quite sad when some 80 year old trees were chopped down opposite where I live, to make way for a housing development.

This is a picture of the 200 year old Beech
taken by Thomas Pakenham

"This photograph was taken before the Boxing Day storm in the final year of the millennium" It was the star tree of his book and TV series "Meetings With Remarkable Trees" and had five trunks.

I like the shape of this Beech, the way the branches reach out like a fan or part of a wheel; you can imagine it going round in a full circle like a big wheel at a fair.  The fact that it was photographed in the snow is lovely emphasising the contrast of the  hard dark trunk reaching up to the softness of the snowy foliage. I also like the way he purposely choose to have a person in the image to  show the scale. On this small picture, which  I took from Packenham's book, its hard to see the lovely blue sky that would have been coming through the wood and snow effect. Its the sort of tree I would have marvelled at too had I been there and can fully understand why it would be his favourite. Especially as he had it in his own garden, I would imagine he may have felt privileged.
Though this image (taken from Pakenham's book) has not come out as clear as I would have hoped, I wanted to include it in my log because it was one at the beginning, that enticed me to read on...

The broken branches of the tree after the storm
taken by Thomas Pakenham

It actually bought a lump to my throat when I read how he seemed heart broken to loose it. It shows how delicate trees can be, even for their great size.

Thomas Pakenham's photographs study the tree shape, age, girth, height and individuality. I found the stories behind why he had singled out the trees very interesting  ie. how our May Day May Pole was originally made from a tree; how in years gone by people had lived in the tops of trees for protection from wild animals; how loggers in Australia chop down certain type of tree (Tingles) because they make nice furniture, and how some of these there are also ravaged by fire.

He describes these old Tingles "like trolls, brutal, ugly, magnificent creatures that can live for centuries ", if left alone.

The tree that looks like a troll
taken by Thomas Pakenham

This is Packenham's photograph of a giant red Tingle near Walpole, Western Australia. " Fires had had their share of it which didnt leave much for the loggers".  I like the unusual shape of the tree,  the fact that it has been fired lends to its individuality with its burnt out areas.  I like that it still stands strong regardless...it still lives on and I would fancy that's what Packenham may have liked too from the writings in his book.   You could walk inside the trunk for close inspection and I would  if I was there.  I've never walked inside a tree before.

The House of Representatives
taken by Thomas Pakenham

Pakenham took this shot of giant Sequoias  in Sequoia National Park , California at 8 o'clock in the morning. He describes them thus:
 "These giant sequoias are elegant and feminine: cinammon-coloured titanesses, 40 or 50 feet round the waist, draped about the arms with swags of shining green, soaring 200 feet to the heavens."

 He goes on to say how they got their name from Politicians years ago who helped save the national park..."Teddy Roosevelt, the bear-hunting president was delighted to help and the politians, to reward themselves for their generosity with tax- payers money, gave political names to many of the finest trees  'Lincoln (two separate trees), ' The President',  'The Senate',  'The House' and so on".

I like his coments and the picture because of its strength...  the bold dark brown trees contrasting against the snowy carpet.  They make a statement.  There's a storm coming but they will stand their ground.  Its interesting he only shows the bottom half of their trunks but you  can imagine them going up up and beyond.  I think  the scene is stark and cold looking but the floaty foliage adds some softness, and I would still want to be there. You can imagine the stillness, the damp cold and the peace.  Someone is in the image again helping  depict the grand scale. It looks like he likes to show a figure in his images.  It may be Thomas Pakenham himself.

Justice tree
taken by Thomas Pakenham

This photograph was taken in Erle, Westphalia, north-west Germany.
In 1892 this tree was said to be the oldest oak in Germany, at 1200 years old. Stomachless now its head lives on looking eeriely dragon like.  In those days it was used as a secret court of Justice, a practice which stopped in the 19th Century whereby it was used for celebrations "(in 1819 the Crown Prince paraded 30 fully equiped infantry men inside it)"

Its fascinating.  Who could not take a picture of this tree? Looking brutish,  the leafy shrubs adds softness to a prehistoric creature.

General Sherman - The Champ
taken by Thomas Pakenham

I could not leave the tree man without showing his illustration of the largest living thing in the entire world!

The biggest tree (and thing) in the world lives at Sequoia National Park, California, and was named after William T. Sherman a brutal commander in the American Civil War. The picture was taken by Thomas Pakenham ...

 "who stood there looking up at him in November on a dismal day when a snow cloud was coming in over the tree's monsterous upper arms. "
" At 274 foot high, the victorious general, his trunk girth 60 foot, appears not to taper at all from a height of 30-50 foot (it does though but only by approx. 12 feet)"
" General Sherman himself , all 1500 tons of him,  eyes you with the bluntness of a tank in World War II (and of course, that was another of the general's incarnations)"
" and a local had said of The Champ: "each one of those branches is bigger than any tree east of the Mississipi."


General Sherman had been  compared to his rival General Grant for the top position.

" Grant had weathered a thousand years,  being the giant tree of King's Canyon National Park....General Grant is of  vast size whose foliage falls like a bright green cascade".

  Grant went on to become ' the Nations' Christmas tree in 1965, nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

  "The rivalry of the two trees went on for more than a decade and a half,  endangering the peace of two Californian counties".

  General Grant was discovered in 1862 and General sherman in 1879. The final outcome of win was judged by the American Forestry Association's complicated points system which determined it by cubic feet volume, as one of the trees had been taller (Sherman) and the other thicker.

General Grant - The runner up
( 'The Christmas Tree')
taken by Thomas Pakenham

I like both trees equally, well nearly equally. Grant to me looks stompey; his snow boots together in defeat of losing the battle. He could easity stomp on the figure with one move. His trailings come down curling nicely over his cinnamon toned body but Sherman's body is also great and not so thick set; He stands proud of his status with more mass of greenery further outstretching his soaring limbs to who knows where? His scene is awash with green, while Grant's with green and white. The neighbour trees in both images look good too.
 They are both wow scenes to me, if only for their grand size. I think they are  outstanding examples of that type of tree.  Is it coincidence that the scene that looks more christmasy with snow tints, is Grants? (and I like that fact), but its Sherman that does it for me!

I compare my work to that of Thomas Pakenham in the way that I also take photographs of trees that capture my attention. ie. Monster Tree, Alive and the following:

                                                                 Autumn Gold
                                                          shutter 1.100 f6.3 iso 200

This tree is between 200-300 years old and I think its lovely showing off its autumn colours to mix in with the surroundings.  The age, shape and colours alone would have made me take the shot but more interest comes with its hollow base hole... which needed more inspection.  I find this a rewarding angle to take the picture from but  I also took a closer shot from a diagonal angle, where it showed me another face:-

                                                              shutter 1/60 aperture 5.0 iso 200

Now clearly there is a face isn't there? It can't all be in my imagination.  I think the more you look at trees the more faces can be found?  The base hole looks spooky...I may not be looking inside, but the texture of this tree is fantastic, so intricate, I love it.