For the last two decades, during the month of January, I have been shooting discarded Christmas Trees in cities across the United States.
The idea evolved from a favorite short story by Richard Brautigan “ What Are You Going to Do With 390 Photographs of Christmas Trees” in which he describes a winter car ride in 1964 allegorizing the castaway trees as assassinated President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Soldiers killed in Vietnam.
In a current context, I have come to see them as everything that we hoped for and then set aside in the rush towards the ordinary after the magic of the holiday season has dulled. They are accidental Memento Mori pointing out the casualties of disposable culture and the vanity of consumption; a quiet example of the commodification of creed.
Xmas Tree 174 (Bronx, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 202 (Bronx, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 150 (Bronx, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 211 (Bronx, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 163 (Bronx, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 204 (Bronx, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 145 (Bronx, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 132 (Bronx, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 212 (Bronx, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 148 (Bronx, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 121 (Queens, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 126 (Bronx, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 139 (Bronx, NY)
2021
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 87 (Bronx, NY)
2020
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 94 (Bronx, NY)
2020
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 111 (Queens, NY)
2020
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 103 (Bronx, NY)
2020
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 119 (Queens, NY)
2020
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 101 (Queens, NY)
2020
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 91 (Bronx, NY)
2020
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 107 (Bronx, NY)
2020
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 73 (Bronx, NY)
2019
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 79 (Bronx, NY)
2019
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 78 (Bronx, NY)
2019
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 60 (Bronx, NY)
2019
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 54 (Bronx, NY)
2019
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 75 (Bronx, NY)
2019
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 61 (Bronx, NY)
2019
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 68 (Bronx, NY)
2019
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 67 (Bronx, NY)
2019
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 52 (New Rochelle, NY)
2019
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 18 (Long Beach, CA)
2007
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 28 (Oakland CA)
2008
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 24 (Torrance, CA)
2007
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 10 (Boise, ID)
2006
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 27 (Oakland, CA)
2008
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 25 (West Hollywood, CA)
2007
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 26 (Gardena, CA)
2007
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 23 (Inglewood, CA)
2007
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 19 (Compton, CA)
2007
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 44 (Santa Cruz, CA)
2011
archival pigment print
Xmas Tree 12 (Boise, ID)
2006
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 13 (Boise, ID)
2006
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 34 (Oakland, CA)
2010
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 45 (Oakland, CA)
2011
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 33 (Oakland, CA)
2010
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 48 (Berkeley, CA)
2011
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 38 (Oakland, CA)
2010
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 49 (Los Angeles, CA)
2011
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 11 (Boise, ID)
2006
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 8 (Salt Lake City, UT)
2005
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 29 (Oakland, CA)
2008
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 39 (Oakland, CA)
2010
archival pigment print
30x40 inches
Xmas Tree 46 (Berkeley, CA)
2011
archival pigment print
30x40 inches