Roberto Mighty • Art/New Media

Trees of My City: Standing Room Only at Arnold Arboretum

2011-01-23T15:09:00.000-08:00

Roberto's Artist Talk. Photo Credit: Robert Beinhocker

A standing room only crowd braved one of the coldest days of the year to attend the opening reception of "Trees of My City" at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

The installation exhibition included two continuous video projections, a 45-minute film, an artist talk, 18 framed photographs and a preview of the Trees of My City photobook.

Photo Credit: Naomi Kooker

The photo exhibit will be up through March 6th. From the bottom of my heart, thanks to everyone for attending. And thanks for writing in the comment book and sending your emails. - Roberto

"Great connection w/neurons. Great idea to name the trees." - Anne Marie C., Harvard Medical School

"Very nice and an amazing film" - Vincent C., Teen Ambassador, Mass Audubon Boston Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary

"Beautiful images - I'm amazed at what you found in the neighborhood I grew up in." Julia M., Newton Resident

Photo Credit: Robert Beinhocker

"Great show - inspiring!" - David H., Photographer

"Wonderful! Thought-provoking, inspiring...the film underscored the value of living and perceiving the world... at a pace that allows one to experience the details and ponder the beauty of life in all its phases, including what happens after. Great work. Fantastic! Soulful, thoughtful - provocative." - Linda R., Boston University

Photo Credit: Naomi Kooker

"Wonderful! Thank you for engaging us in your process - of discovery and life and death - the whole process. Congratulations! I love trees, too." - Mary M., Arlington

"I really felt a connection with your work. Thanks for sharing your life with us!" - Maud H., Somerville

Photo Credit: Naomi Kooker

"Really excellent presentation. When walking the dog in the woods we will have a different perspective now. Thank you." Chuck R. & Diane A., Medford

Trees of My City Book. Photo Credit: Naomi Kooker

"I had the privilege of attending your wonderful presentation at the Arnold Arboretum yesterday. It was very informative, moving, enlightening, and uplifting. What a wonderful way to spend the afternoon." - Susan K.G., Artist

Projection: "Roots" Photo: Naomi Kooker

"It keeps getting better & better. And I love the book." - Karen R., Worcester

"Loved the photography. Inspiring" Giselle C., Student

"Makes me want to slow down when I walk & see what's around me..." - David V.

"Trees are so much more!" - Louise F., Brookline

"Beautiful work. Bravo, Roberto!" - Anonymous

"Roberto, Thank you for working to open our eyes to the importance of what is around us in our everyday lives & worlds."- Robin M.

Projection: "Other Voices" Photo: N. Kooker

"Congratulations Roberto!" - Brian H., Somerville

"Fabulous work; I really love it!" - David C.

"Beautiful" - Patricia T.

"I enjoyed your pieces: "Driveway" and "Rhodo" - Davell J., Teen Ambassador, Mass Audubon Boston Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary

Video Screening/Photo Show January 22nd

2011-01-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

Arnold Arboretum Installation

"Trees of My City" Saturday, January 22nd at 1pm

+ Event Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

+ Event Time: 1pm - 3pm

+ Admission: Free

+ Venue: The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

+ Address: Hunnewell Building Lecture Hall, 125 Arborway, Boston, MA 02130-3500

Directions: http://arboretum.harvard.edu/visit/directions/

BOSTON, MA - 01/10/11 - Trees of My City is an original multimedia installation about the beauty and science of dormant, dead and decaying trees in one American city over one calendar year...and how we can expand our ideas about the cycle of life by contemplating how nature deals with death.

Installation Poster

Trees of My City will preview live at The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University on Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 from 1pm - 3pm. The exhibit also includes Roberto Mighty's fine art photography thru March 6th.

Trees of My City was filmed on location in Newton, Massachusetts. Through high definition video, unusual photographic perspectives, timelapse, underwater and aerial photography, digital compositing and surround sound audio, audiences will experience trees in unexpected ways and have their consciousness raised about our urban treescapes.

Click here for preview audience quotes.

An accompanying image-embedded gps webmap leads users of mobile devices to several of the trees in the installation.

Trees of My City was conceived and developed as a museum installation by Roberto Mighty, a filmmaker, photographer and new media artist. Approximately a year ago, he began photographing and filming local trees. The project grew to involve noted scientists, naturalists and tree advocates, including Eric J. Olson, PhD, Ecologist, Brandeis University; Kevin T. Smith, PhD, Plant Physiologist, Project Leader, USDA Forest Service; Simon A. Perkins, Field Ornithologist, Larry Sass, Ph.D., Department of Architecture, MIT; Jane Sender, Newton Conservators; and Marc Welch, Division of Urban Forestry, City of Newton.

The Arnold Arboretum

The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is the oldest public arboretum in North America and one of the world's leading centers for the study of plants. Administered by the Office of the Provost of Harvard University and a link in Boston's Emerald Necklace of parks, the Arnold Arboretum is a unique blend of respected research institution and beloved public landscape. We provide and support world-class research, horticulture, and education programs that foster the understanding, appreciation, and preservation of trees.

More Information: Trees of My City Webpage

¡feliz año nuevo! (Happy New Year!)

2011-01-01T20:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2011. Towards the end of last year, I became obsessed with shooting dormant, dead and decaying trees in the dark for Trees of My City.

The best time to shoot is just after sunset, or better yet, just before dawn (5:30am - 6:20am in the late Fall or early Winter), when the sky is full of colors not quite visible to the naked eye. The upside is that the dry air makes for stunningly crisp images. The downside is that it's been wicked cold...13 degrees, 18 degrees, 21 degrees. I can't operate my camera with gloves on, so every shot costs me dearly. But it's worth it. I go out for an hour or more just about every morning or evening. Thank goodness for long johns and the recent unseasonably warm temperatures, but the more comfortable air is not quite as conducive to drop dead photos.

Here are three examples: "Carriage House," "Blue Velvet" and "La Nieve." These images and others from the Trees of My City night gallery will be featured at my upcoming show at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University later this month. See below for details.

Trees of My City is an original multimedia installation about the beauty and science of dormant, dead and decaying trees in one American city over one calendar year...and how we can expand our ideas about the cycle of life by contemplating how nature deals with death.

If you're a member of the press, email to request a link to the exclusive press movie trailer.

Trees of My City will preview live at The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University on Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 from 1pm - 3pm. The exhibit also includes, through March 6th, Roberto Mighty’s fine art photography

Trees of My City was filmed on location in Newton, Massachusetts. Through high definition video, unusual photographic perspectives, timelapse, underwater and aerial photography, digital compositing and surround sound audio, audiences will experience trees in unexpected ways and have their consciousness raised about our urban treescapes.

If you're a museum curator in the US or overseas interested in possibly having the traveling Trees of My City exhibit in 2011/2012, email to request a link to the museum web preview.

Click here for preview audience quotes.

Trees of My City was conceived and developed as a museum installation by Roberto Mighty, a filmmaker, photographer and new media artist.

Approximately a year ago, while trying to make sense of the deaths of close family members, he began photographing and filming local trees.

The project grew to involve noted scientists, including Eric J. Olson, PhD, Ecologist, Brandeis University; Kevin T. Smith, PhD, Plant Physiologist, Project Leader, USDA Forest Service; Simon A. Perkins, Field Ornithologist and Larry Sass, Ph.D., Department of Architecture, MIT.

More Information: Trees of My City Webpage

More Information: Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
125 Arborway, Boston, MA 02130

+ 01/22/2011: 1pm - 3pm film screening, audio and interactive multimedia installation.

+ 01/22 - 03/06; Fine Art Photography exhibit in Hunnewell Building, 9am-4pm weekdays; 10am - 4pm Saturdays; Noon - 4pm Sundays.
###

Newton Open Studios. Installation Preview coming soon.

2010-11-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to all the friends and fellow artists at Newton Open Studios this past weekend. It was the first public unveiling of large-format fine art prints and a preview of the new photo book from Trees of My City.

Many people were moved to share their trees stories, from places as far-flung as Egypt; England; Australia; Tunisia; Seattle; New York; and even...Cambridge.

Please mark your calendar for the multimedia installation preview (HD video projection, surround-sound audio, interactive gps mapping, photographs, music) of Trees of My City at the Arnold Arboretum on Saturday, January 22nd at 1pm. The press and the public will be invited, and it will be quite the celebration of this year long project.

Fall Films & Exhibits via #constantcontact

2010-10-19T03:06:00.000-07:00

Fall Films & Exhibits via #constantcontact

Dockside Tango

2010-10-13T04:53:00.000-07:00

Dockside Tango on YouTube

I love filming dancers. It started when I was a kid, mesmerized by dance on film in West Side Story.

Choreographer Jerome Robbins, Composer Leonard Bernstein, Lyricist Stephen Sondheim and Director Robert Wise, together, made an American masterpiece...using tough gang kids dancing in an athletic style, they made musical theater dancing accessible for a much wider audience.

Later came my appreciation of Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp and other modern dance icons.

Last year, I took my daughter to Broadway to see “In The Heights”, a joyful musical about Dominican-Americans in NYC, combining elements of hip-hop, merengue, bachata, salsa and jazz.

I’ve also been studying the classic films of Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelley, the late Gregory Hines, TV’s “Dancing With The Stars” the “Step Up” series and the urban sport of Parkour.

The Altis Ballet, my short film featuring Boston Ballet dancers, has garnered close to 170,000 views on YouTube.

But Argentinian Tango holds a special place in my heart. Who can forget Al Pacino’s blind man’s Tango sequence in “Scent of a Woman”? Or Gomez and Morticia doing the Tango in “The Addams Family? Or the films of Sally Potter? Tango is sensuous, passionate and hot. The dance requires absolute concentration, connection and cooperation between the two dancers.

For my new series of short (under 2 minutes) pieces on dancers, I asked local dance teachers Nancy Murphy and Ron Gursky of Rugcutters to choreograph dances at a handful of locations around Boston.

I direct, film and edit each piece, experimenting with a variety of production techniques, from camera moves to lighting to editing to special effects, building up a cinematic vocabulary that may be useful on a variety of projects going forward.

Dockside Tango was shot in one morning with my Sony HXR-NEX-5u AVCHD camera at 1920x1080 30p HD, and edited over six weeks entirely in Final Cut Pro. Music -- "Latin Vinyl" by Footage Firm.

If you’re an accomplished dancer or dance company, any style, please contact me about appearing in upcoming films.

¡Bailemos! - Roberto

Audience Loves TREES.

2010-08-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, the Newton Free Library hosted a sneak preview screening of “Trees of My City” Roberto Mighty’s new film about family, trees and the meaning of life...and death. Below are quotes from response cards and email...

“Wow. Didn’t know I could be so mesmerized by Trees!”

“Thank you! I love trees. Now I love dead trees.”

“It is splendid and lyrical!”

“Great use of humor!”

“Great integration of family story with the natural world.”

“What a fabulous project! I thoroughly enjoyed your work.”

“I loved the movie. Still thinking about it. I'll be at the January premiere.”

Trees of My City played to a packed house, unusual for a midweek library presentation. The audience, ranging in age from teens to elders, responded to elements of love, obsession, science, spirituality and ecology. Many wrote heartfelt notes to the filmmaker, and responses are still coming in.

Mark your calendars now for the High-Definition surround sound multimedia installation of Trees of My City at The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University on Saturday, January 22, 2011.

More audience reactions will be added to this website over the next several days. Some audience members wrote long and thoughtful notes, including suggestions, their own stories about Trees and things they'd like to see changed in the final version.

“Super! Thank you.”

“Very touching.”

“Loved the film - Thank you.”

“Trees, trees, glorious trees!”

“I connected with your sense of awe and spiritual connection towards trees, especially leafless trees.”

“Great Job! Thanks from the Trees.”

“An unusual idea but it worked.”

“I really like the bird time & tree time segments! That made me think about time differently.”

“Congratulations on the wonderful success of last night's sneak preview.”

Thanks to all who attended and wrote (and are still writing.)

Sneak Preview August 3rd. Harvard Installation January 22nd.

2010-07-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Film Sneak Preview: Trees of My City
NEWTON, Massachusetts: (July 2, 2010) - The Newton Free Library will host a film sneak preview and director's talk by Roberto Mighty on "Trees of My City", his documentary about dormant, dead and decaying trees, on

Tuesday, August 3rd from 7pm - 8:30pm. Address: Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton, MA 02459

Trees of My City
Dormancy. Death. Decay. It's All Good.

Trees of My City is an artistic multimedia installation about the hidden beauty and ecological purpose of dormant, dead and decaying trees over four seasons in one American City -- Newton, Massachusetts.

Through high definition video, unusual photographic perspectives, timelapse, underwater and aerial photography, digital compositing and surround sound audio, audiences will experience trees in unexpected ways and have their consciousness raised about their urban treescapes.

Science Segments
Notable members of the science, naturalist and tree communities provide expert audio/video commentary in Trees of My City. They include: Kevin T. Smith, Ph.D., Project Leader, USDA Forest Service; Eric J. Olson, Ph.D., Brandeis University; Simon A. Perkins, Field Ornithologist and John DelRosso, Head Arborist, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

Multimedia Installation and Photographic Exhibition
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
125 Arborway Boston, MA 02130-3500
Installation event: January 22, 2011
Photographic Exhibition: January 22nd - March 6th, 2011

Trees. The Film.

2010-04-15T05:48:00.000-07:00

My Trees of My City film/multimedia installation project is about dormant, dead and decaying trees. I spend several hours a week on field excursions, imaging trees with four different types of cameras and a digital audio recorder.

Click here for the new 5-minute HD Trailer

The past four weeks have been a whirlwind. I'm honored to announce that four distinguished experts -- three Scientists and an Arborist -- have signed on to this project to provide commentary and on-camera appearances for the project:

Advisor, Plant Pathology
Kevin T. Smith, Ph.D., Project Leader, USDA Forest Service

Advisor, Arboriculture
John DelRosso, Head Arborist, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

Advisor, Ecology
Eric J. Olson, Ph.D., Brandeis University

Advisor, Ornithology
Simon A. Perkins, Mass Audubon Society

In addition, I've been imaging trees in my city, but also in NY, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island. TeAr shows, once again, the repetition of forms in nature, among other things.

However...the onset of Spring has filled me with sadness, as the budding leaves and greenery are already beginning to obscure the architectural structure and stark beauty of each tree.

It took me about a week to pick up the camera again and begin the current phase of the project: Images of death and decay amid Spring's rebirth. Oh, joy....

I've been recording elements for the 5.1 Surround Sound design all over the city, then locked in my studio developing the audio soundscape for the project. Some of that sound design is hinted at in the film trailer.

I've also been filming time-lapse segments of the trees around my home and have so far geotagged an additional ten remote locations so that followers of this project may go visit the trees, locations and debris featured in the TMC series. Excerpts from these items will be posted to this blog in the coming weeks. - Roberto
###

Trees. Fencing.

2010-03-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

My Trees multimedia installation project is about dormant, dead and decaying trees. I spend several hours a week on field excursions, imaging trees with four different types of cameras and a digital audio recorder.

I'm fascinated by trees and fences. Trees are three dimensional free beings who inhabit spherical space -- up, down, forward, back, left, right, visible and concealed, width and depth, positive and negative.

Fences are two-dimensional objects, akin to geometric lines. Fences are relatively fixed. Trees are expansive. Fences are not very flexible. Trees are adaptable. When fences and trees meet, notable events take place, as seen in this triptych - CrabClaw, ChainLink and WiRes.

On this day, I am walking along the Massachusetts Turnpike between West Newton and Newtonville. Lest you think me reckless, I am actually on the adjacent service road, Washington Street. This chain link fence separates the street from the AMTRAK tracks and the highway.

CrabClaw is a chronological narrative. Here's the story I see: There was a tree. Someone erected a fence. The tree grew around the fence. Someone cut the tree down. The claw was too much trouble to remove, so Someone left it there, the tree clutching the fence unto decay, saying "I was here."

ChainLink is a story with a a different outcome: There was a fence. A seed took hold beneath it. The seedling never knew life without the fence. Now the two support each other.

WiRes is more complicated. The telephone pole was once a tree. Its horizontal spars mockingly echo its amputated branches. The above-ground communication wires, connected as they are to other former trees, mimic the under-ground communication wires of the root system which connects all trees to each other.

The tree on the lower right hand corner of the frame sends out its own wires to join in the conversation. But this discussion, in ones and zeroes, may be in a language it will not understand. ###

Trees. United Nations.

2010-03-12T09:26:00.000-08:00

My Trees multimedia installation project is about dormant, dead and decaying trees. I spend several hours a week on field excursions, imaging trees with four different types of cameras and a digital audio recorder.

New York City. In two days I am filming in three boroughs -- Manhattan, Staten Island and Queens -- for two projects, Trees and Walkers. The light is fantastic, visibility is endless and the air is dry. Perfect for crisp, high resolution imaging, with as much depth-of-field as my lenses will allow.

On East 43rd street and 1st avenue, I see a planted row of trees from another planet. Or so they seem. Unfortunately, they're behind a chain link fence, so it's tough to get a clear view of them. Looking up, I notice a building that looks familiar...I've seen it before...a row of flagpoles, heavy security presence...Wow. It's the UN.

One aspect of Trees is imagining the world from a tree's perspective. UnGnarled is an example of how this tree might see the UN building.

Turning around and crossing the street toward the west side of the island, I see my first architectural love -- that other landmark NY skyscraper, through the eyes of ChrySler.

There are many photographers out on this beautiful day. Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, long lenses, wide-angles. It's a shutterbug orgy in the big apple.

You can tell the professional shooters. They don't smile when you wave at them. They're too busy trying to get THE SHOT. Me? I'm giddy, like a child. I'll grin at anybody. Everything's right with the world.

But then. I turn to my left and see something pitiful. Someone has planted a lone young tree on a short block, all by itself. Living thing as decorative object. But trees are herd animals. Their roots intertwine under the earth, where they touch, receive, give and communicate. Planting one where its roots cannot reach another looks like solitary confinement.

I try to capture that sensation here in WallTree. The cabs heedlessly swoosh in front. The concrete block wall looms behind. The overpass crowds in from the left. A scraggly cousin leans precariously out around the corner, beyond the reach of roots. But this individual is all on its own, already bent and gnarled in its youth.

Too much anthropomorphizing? Not on your life. I know I'm right about this.

I generally prefer not to image trees that are so obviously planted in rows. This stems from my revulsion at the gardens of Versailles, circa 2001. One geometrically staid row of plantings after another, stretching to the horizon. A triumph of man over nature. Yuck. The food was great, though.

But the row of trees in front of the flagpoles in front of the UN building is just too lovely to pass up. DwarfRow shows their delicate structural finery in late winter, before the rouge and eyeliner of later seasons covers them up. Lovely. Just lovely. ###

Trees. Trolleys.

2010-03-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

My Trees multimedia installation project is about dormant, dead and decaying trees. I spend several hours a week on field excursions, imaging trees with four different types of cameras and a digital audio recorder.

Monday, 4pm. I am on my way to give two back-to-back lectures on high definition videography and audio at the Art Institutes of New England, in Brookline Village. I take the Riverside Line trolley.

The waning light of afternoon casts long, golden shadows on the end-of-winter backyards, woods and wetlands as I ride.

As the trolley hurtles through Newton, my nose is suddenly cold. I realize that it is pressed up against the glass. I am standing, bolt upright, leaning into the door, transfixed by what rushes past -- Trees. Hundreds...thousands of naked, grey, broken, dormant, dead, decaying trees. And tangled undergrowth, thickets, brambles, bushes. All moonscape grey in early March.

The carefully landscaped front yards that I see as I drive around the neighborhoods give way in the rear to dangerously steep hills that descend to the trolley tracks. No one bothers to manicure these grounds.

The Trolley fence is hurricane style. Mile after mile. Couldn't be uglier. Several trees had apparently tried and failed to deal with the metal links. It is a sad sight captured here in FenCed.

Nature takes its course back here. A 60 foot conifer, needles still green, jerked out of the ground by who knows what massive, inexorable force, lies on its side, bloomers showing, root ball humiliatingly exposed to the unforgiving sunlight and drying winds. I am embarrassed for her.

Everywhere there are cracked, bent, breaking and broken bits of trees, as if an actual hurricane had come through. Discarded cleanly sawn limbs and stumps clutter the area closest to the tracks.

The wetlands around the Webster Conservation Area are particularly intriguing. I immediately begin scheming on how quickly I can come back to tramp through these woods with my cameras and audio recorder. I also note several promising stumps that I hope I'll be able to find when I return.

Tuesday morning. 6:19am. Sunrise is at 6:07, so I feel I'll catch the light just right by the time I arrive in Chestnut Hill.

I am imaging sidewalk trees in West Newton Square when a cute little female gets my attention. Wet nose, huge eyes, perhaps 8 inches high at the shoulder. Her owner, a friendly woman in a stylish coat, tells me she is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

"Shall I pose her next to a tree?" She asks, helpfully. No thanks, no posing. Bending down on one knee, I snap away as the Spaniel dances about. I get a couple of blurry shots. It's a wonderful way to start the day.

TreeGedy is a typical sidewalk tree. I imagine the iron bars are there to protect the tree from humans, but the sight is almost unbearably painful. "We've imprisoned you in order to protect you."

I decided last week to start photographing the dogs I meet, because I have met dogs on every single one of my Trees excursions. The pattern is usually the same. I am lost in thought, working my camera gear, when I feel a presence. I turn around and there he/she is, four feet, furry and curious.

The owners soon follow, either amused by their dog's interest or apologizing for the intrusion. Either way, conversations ensue. I have scientifically concluded that dog owners are among the nicest people in the world. On the other hand, that's nonsense. I bet Atilla the Hun had a dog, too.

Repeating all the steps I had taken the day before, I take the Riverside Line to the Chestnut Hill stop. It slowly dawns on me that I have no idea how to get back to that felled 60-footer.

I start walking and see no path that goes next to the trolley tracks. High fences everywhere. I consider striding along the railroad bed and then picture myself being arrested by MBTA police. Veto that idea.

I see a small road that might lead behind the tracks. A woman is walking her dog and waves. I wave back. The dog sniffs the air as I approach. She tells me that the "small road" I am on is a private driveway. Whoops. She's pleasant though, and helpful with directions.

I ask for help in finding the way behind the tracks. She directs me to the eastern entrance to the Houghton Garden, buried deep inside a warren of streets. The photo you see here is of the western entrance. By the way, her dog is a Cairn Terrier. No picture, as I am now getting anxious at the fast rising sun.

I stride off and lope about a half mile, winding back into streets with no sidewalks. I'm beginning to doubt her directions when I suddenly see the entrance, exactly as she described. Thanks, Nice Woman.

The Houghton Garden is a lovely 10-acre Victorian style garden featuring a brook, a pond and a thick stand of rhododendron -- verdant and lush even at this time of year. I stop to record water, bird, insect, squirrel and wind sounds.

The garden is gorgeous, but I'm jonesin' for that deceased conifer, so I move on in what I hope is the direction of the trolley tracks, stopping to notice an empty bottle of Amstel Light rudely thrown underneath a bush. No picture. Too sad.

The sound of a passing trolley snaps me out of my reverie. After crossing the top of a hill I see a woman standing below with her back to me. I shout out "hello" so I won't scare her by seeming to come out of nowhere. She turns, waves and I see a man and a very well-coiffed grey dog. They are a family. I walk down the hill, high-resolution camera in one hand and digital audio recorder in the other, headphones in my ears. I imagine I'm quite a sight. Unfazed, they strike up a chat. The dog is a Schnauzer. Fraulein Schnauzer is not curious so much as annoyed with me. I feel like I am interrupting something.

We all exchange pleasantries and they eventually move off. My theory about nice people and dogs continues to hold true.

For the next two hours, I traipse about the Houghton Garden, the adjacent Webster Conservation Area and the Newton Deer Park.

Fungus is growing everywhere with a vengeance, and the sight of the plump, juicy mushrooms makes me hungry. AwNing, though, looks like a shady overhang in a condo complex.

Mmmm...garlic, onion, olive oil and fresh-picked Newton mushrooms. Except that I never pick anything on these trips. It would seem like a violation. Not to mention that I don't know which ones are safe. I'm content with taking their images and leaving their bodies intact.

On this day, it's several miles, 4 hours, 82 exposures and many digital audio recordings of the sounds trees hear, plus the sounds trees make as they rub against each other. I never do find that 60-foot downed conifer, but that's okay.

Utter bliss. ###

Trees. Dog day afternoon.

2010-03-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

My Trees of My City series is about dormancy, death and decay. I hike around a city filming, photographing and writing about trees and the cycle of demise and regeneration. Follow my meanderings on this geotagged satellite map with embedded video, images and text.

After a week of rain, the sun is shining cheerfully through a partly cloudy sky. But my emotions are mixed as I hike a scant mile from my home to a nearby hilltop stand of maples.

Today I'm backpacking my HD filmmaker's camera, a DSLR, the HDSLR, the digital audio recorder, a tripod, extra batteries and assorted other paraphernalia.

I'd guess I'm schlepping about 50 lbs.

The weight isn't the problem. I am burdened with the thought that I look like a homeless nut job -- laden down with backpack, shoulder bag and tripod as my neighbors flash by in their SUV's, glancing at me with suspicion, derision or sympathy. "Poor bugger must not have wheels," I imagine them thinking.

But it's important for me to walk to these locations. If I drive to a site and then unload my gear, I tend to miss myriad photographic opportunities along the way. Also, hiking -- as opposed to motoring -- allows me to see slowly enough to notice small, exquisite moments, such as a clump of brightly colored fungus at the base of a rotting tree. Oh yeah, baby.

Furthermore, the effort required to make my way on foot to a location is roughly equivalent to the level of intention I will bring to the picture-taking.

So, I labor under 50 pounds of gear, odd glances from the neighbors, and my own rising expectations.

I get to what I call Albemarle Wood, scale a short hill, pass a grotesquely decomposing stump and almost literally stumble over the bizarre sight captured here in StaDium -- a spectacular case of multi-level trunk ring decomposition. Up close, it reminds me of, well, a section of seats at a sports arena. The delicate, paper-like leaves of ring remnants contrast with the almost-decayed-to-dirt layers in between.

About 100 yards away I see what looks like the right wings of two birds who have violently embedded their bodies into this trunk. WoodWings presents their exposed pinions, forever frozen in mid-flight at the moment of impact.

Using a macro setting, I threw the background out of focus to emphasize the frenzied madness of that final suicidal charge. What drove these magnificent fliers to such a catastrophic end?

Reeling back from this sight, the peaceful perspective of DiJon relaxes my eyes. Why Dijon? All I can tell you is that this image makes me think of the French countryside.

Lost in reverie, humming "La Vie En Rose" under my breath, I suddenly become aware of a presence. I turn to see a large, grey, perfectly coiffed Standard Poodle eyeing me with a "what the heck are you doing with MY tree" look.

"Beignet," which is French for fried dough, starts barking. His owner, a friendly German fellow, comes up quickly, shushing Beignet and apologizing to me, his eyes grazing over the small mountain of electronic gear I have transported to the woods.

I start to explain, but he signals that it's not really important. "Isn't it a beautiful day!!," he jovially announces. I break into a broad smile. "Yes, it is. Am I messing with Beignet's tree?" "No my friend. You are messing with his Forest!" We both guffaw.

Beignet bounds off, the jolly German yodeling behind him. Okay, he wasn't yodeling. But the dude was just so happy that I grin and start stereotyping for all I'm worth.

I go back to setting up the big HD motion picture camera, noticing KryPton along the way. Again, this is an example of layered decay. It reminds me of the depiction of the destruction of the planet Krypton in Christopher Reeve's first (and best) Superman movie.

Again I feel a presence. Looking up, I find myself nose-to-nose with what appears to be a miniature (2 ft tall) Irish Wolfhound. No name, no bark. He is accompanied by a tall Terrier-ish looking companion. The owner soon follows. Turns out we are acquaintances. Pat is a neighbor and a fellow cameraman. We chat amiably about new media stuff. The Hound is actually a greyhound/wolfhound mix. That accounts for the short stature plus the noble bearing. Hmmm. Sounds like my Dad.

On the way home, with two blocks to go, I see a third man with a dog. Dog day afternoon, indeed. The guy is friendly. Walking, we exchange hellos. I put my hand out to pet his cute little mutt. In a flash, she bites me. Yep. That's right. Friendly Guy's dog bites me on the hand. Luckily I have a thickish leather glove on.

I feel sorry for the owner, who is perplexed and very upset. "Are you alright?" he asks with genuine embarrassment. "Uh, sure, no problem." I respond. I'm across the street from my house. "Have a nice day," I say, crossing the street. The poor guy looks like he wants to crawl into a hole.

Note to self: Never assume a dog is friendly because her owner is. Keep your eyes on the dog, dodo.

But it's too nice out to be ticked off. The bite didn't break the skin and I consider myself lucky to have met three cool neighbors on such a beautiful day. ###

Trees. PelVis.

2010-03-01T07:54:00.000-08:00

My Trees of My City multimedia installation is about dormancy, death and decay in urban deciduous trees. Or, it's about love, loss and memory. Or, it's about reincarnation. Or, it's about the weltanshauung of the american grey squirrel...

Sick of cowering with my cameras in the house during several days of precipitation, I put on my foul weather gear, strap on the HDSLR, tripod and digital audio recorder and hike two miles to Norumbega park, a hilly, wooded area in the Lakes District of the Charles River.

As I walk I am visited by memories of my late older brother, Pedro -- a lover of woods, birds, stars and all things non-human. Gone now twenty years, I can almost see him towering over me, circa 1963 -- me 9, him 15 -- naming the passing flora and fauna as we hike among the foothills of Anchorage.

The memory-Pedro is with me now in Norumbega park. "Look at that outasight Beech," he says, "a centurion acting as GuarDian to the entrance of the park." "But it's snowing and I don't want to get my camera wet," I whine. "Don't be a punk. Are you an artist or not?"

Embarrassed, I take off my rain slicker, undo the shoulder pack, remove the camera from its water-resistant case, ignore the wet snow all over it, raise the viewfinder to my eyes, mutter a prayer to the electronic circuit gods and squeeze off two exposures.

A golden retriever named Cooper looks at me quizzically, wondering if I'm aware that DSLR's go to the repair shop in the sky after getting wet. "Talk to Pedro," I say to the canine, who wanders away, shaking his head.

His owners, a woman and her teenaged son, also look askance at me with my raincoat and gloves off, photographing a tree during snowfall. I weakly say "hello" as the woman edges her son away. Cooper is already long gone.

I've mostly avoided shooting Beech trees (Fagus grandifolia) in this project up until now. That's because the site of these elephantine-grey, voluptuously-bulging, pachyderm-peaceful, burgundy-leaved beauties makes me swoon. I'm infatuated with them, plain and simple. if I'd started photographing these yard pinups first, the rest of the project would have been in jeopardy. You understand.

There are other great Fagus grandifolia around, including a spectacular stand in a tiny little park in Brookline; a magnificent specimen in the Arboretum; one sexy beast on my street; a cutie in Newton Centre and several in Waban.

Now that the more common Norway Maples, Elms and Lindens are getting their due, I suppose I can be trusted to leer at a Beech or two. But it's a slippery slope...

I trudge up hill and over dale, coming in sight of what appears to be a partially frozen pond, and am suddenly transfixed by what looks like a very large fossilized human PelVis lying in the middle of the trail, complete with a shattered femur still in the hip socket.

I swear on a stack of Nikons that I do not stage any of these scenes or move any trees to get these portraits. This exquisitely rotting piece is literally just lying there, waiting for me to photograph it. I image it from all sides. Each angle tells a different story. They'll all be in the Trees of My City installation. Thanks, Pedro. ###

Trees. Eden.

2010-02-26T09:18:00.000-08:00

My Trees multimedia installation is about dormancy, death and decay. Two days of unremitting rain have kept me from taking my beloved imaging devices (uh, cameras) outside and risking their sensitive electronics. Too bad. The light during rainstorms is beguiling.

All the more reason why I greet this morning's sunshine with an excited shout. Suiting up with tripod, HDSLR and digital audio recorder, I'm a quarter mile away before I look up and notice the sun is gone and the clouds look a little pregnant.

Stifling a curse, I abort the mission to walk to Auburndale Park and detour to nearby Eden Avenue, a short street with an evocative name.

At the end of the block, the provocative image of TwistedSister beckons to me. Improbably positioned at the edge of a field behind an old school where my daughter and I used to play catch, this slender lady stands there, locked forever in a Ginger Rogers foxtrot dip. I'm too short to dance with you, my dear. But I sure would like to spin you around.

Closer in, this alternate image of Ginger's soeur, WormHole, reveals yet another example of the repetition of forms in nature. I'll leave this interpretation to your imagination.

Just before the turn to Eden (avenue,) brilliantly engineered terraces on a stout trunk, almost 90 degrees to the vertical, sing to my eye.

BarnAcle attempts to capture this architectural tour-de-force, complete with fancy painted trim worthy of the 19th century Victorians sprinkled throughout the neighborhood.

Glancing again at the sky, I turn home with regret. I'm hoping to get another crack at some fallen oaks Jane Sender and Eric Olson have spotted for me in Flowed Meadow. Note: If you've seen some extraordinary dormant, dead or decaying trees, please let me know. Feel free to use the comments section of this blog. Cheers. ###

Trees. A Cemetery.

2010-02-23T07:09:00.000-08:00

My Trees multimedia installation is about dormancy, death and decay. What better place to visit than a cemetery?

Today I have chosen to walk in a westerly direction from the house. Every one of my Trees photographic excursions until now has been east of my street.

As I step out onto the porch, the sharp, acrid odor of Carnivora Mephitidae assails my nostrils. I gasp with delight. This awful skunk stench may be a shout of "I'M WALKIN' HERE" by some feisty four-footed local denizen. Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy couldn't have said it any better.

There happens to be a cemetery in the neighborhood. The West Parish Burying Ground, seen here in the aptly titled "PlaQue" is about 220 years old.

That would make the lonely birch tree there, shown in "MirrorImage," a very young resident, indeed. I was struck by the almost mirror image of the "twin" trees behind the birch. Really, I don't make any of this stuff up. I take care not to move, reposition or set up anything to make the picture "better." I just create portraits of what's there when I arrive on the scene.

The interplay of light and dark on this gray, about-to-snowstorm morning was perfect for imaging the luminance contrast between the birch and the trees behind it.

F11. F9.5. F6.7...neutral density...ISO...wide angle...telephoto...all these technical considerations, so important to me when I was a young photographer, drain away and become automatic as I just try to capture the subtly awesome song of the air, moisture, light and dense growth scratched against the vault of sky above me. All my efforts seem tone deaf before this music of nature.

There are relatively few birch trees in the area. Does a birch tree make you think of native americans and birch bark canoes? I wonder if birches get sick of that stereotype.

After the cemetery, I trudge on, weighted down by my enormous tripod, a high-definition filmmaker's camera, the DSLR, coat, sweater, two shirts, long johns, scarf, gloves, headphones, spare batteries...and my expectations.

I am trying to find a particular place. It is the small park, hidden in the grid of local streets, where I taught my daughter how to ride a bike over ten years ago.

The memory of her pigtail flying and her triumphant shout as I let go of the bike for the first time makes my heart swell.

I'm taking her to look at colleges next month, and I realize with a start that every site where I have photographed trees for this series is a place I used to take her when she was in a backpack, then in a stroller, then on foot, then on her bike. So, I'm mapping the past.

But you can't go back. I finally reach Wellington Park, but it is so well maintained that there are no dead trees there I want to photograph. My streak has been broken. Sorrowfully, I turn to go home.

As I return, I see many fabulous dead and decaying specimens in people's back yards. It takes all the willpower I can muster not to raise my DSLR and image them. But according to the code I've set up for this project, it's cheating to make portraits in back yards, even with a long lens from the sidewalk. That's private space, pardner.

Mercifully, however, I am thrown a metaphorical bone. I turn a corner and the image of SibLings presents itself. I see them as big brother in the foreground and little brother in the background. The bark pattern on these trees takes my breath away, as does their massive majesty. Their quiet dignity dwarves the postwar houses around them.

My late older brother, Pedro, used to take me on walks around our neighborhood when I was little. He'd point out birds, plants, stars, turtles, frogs, fish and everything else natural. So, that's Pedro in the foreground and me in the background. Except Pedro's in the ground, with our Mother. And I'm still here, with my daughter. ###

Trees. Listening to Trees.

2010-02-21T12:43:00.000-08:00

My Trees series is about dormancy, death and decay.

On my walk this morning, my feet turn toward Dolan Pond, an eight-acre wetlands conservation area twenty minutes from my home.

I've been listening to trees all this week, developing plans for the digital audio surround sound component of the gallery installation for my Trees project.

What sounds do trees make? What sounds do trees hear? Some sounds that are made with trees are easy to hear, such as the percussive rat-a-tat-tat of woodpeckers.

Other sounds require an impossible amount of work on the part of the listener - like the sounds that tree-boring worms make. How could I possibly record that? Very difficult, indeed.

How does a squirrel -- whom I see as an aboriginal population now co-dependent with us suburban humans -- discern which tree-reflected sounds are benign, and which signal danger?

All week I've come back again and again to listen to a particular tree on Randlett Park, a nearby street -- because if one is very, very still, you can hear the sound of an electrical cable rubbing against it. It sounds mournful.

Along with my DSLR camera, I've brought my digital audio field recorder with me today. The results are breathtaking. More on that later....

I used to take my little girl here in warm weather to observe the ducks and marvel at the astonishing variety of flora and fauna. Coyotes, fishers, muskrats, green heron and other cool creatures dwell within. No, we never saw any of those beasts, but we have it on good authority that this small swamp is teeming with them.

For my purposes, coming to this four-pond wonderland in winter, when the ground is drier and easier to traverse, provides an excellent opportunity to get up close and personal with dormant, dead and decaying trees. Aah. Heaven.

BeSame (pronounced "BESS-a-may") is the spanish word for "kiss me." The v-shaped lovers in this image appear to be inclining their faces together for a smooch. I imagine that they perished this way, locked in amorous embrace to the end. And beyond.

PapiLlon catches my eye as I study the ground. These fungal growths look like butterflies that are only momentarily alighting on this rotting limb.

ShiProw immediately brings to mind the prow of a Viking ship. Can you see the ghostly oarsmen just outside the left of the frame?

After roaming the dried, frozen swamp for some time making photographic portraits, I take out the digital audio field recorder and set it up, donning my bulky studio headphones.

I turn the microphone audio up to its highest level, since I am after the faint sounds of the trees. Holding my breath and trying not to move at all, I hit "record."

My ears are immediately bathed in a sensuous swamp cacophony. Trees rubbing against each other. Dry leaves tumbling across the ground. Squirrel feet racing in the canopy above me. Distant snapping of twigs and branches as some beast (canine? lupine? feline? unicorn?) crashes through the cover. The steady drone of airplanes tens of thousands of feet above.

Awesome. Freakin' awesome. I'll post excerpts from these recordings in the days to come.

PueBlo brings to mind the ancient Anaszi cliff dwellings of New Mexico. This downed trunk is no less an apartment building than those ancient housing developments. Rather than homo sapiens inhabitants, its tenants are of the six-legged variety. Do they pay their rent on time?

Finally: The winter swamp is redolent with faint scents. Scat, dirt, mud, leaves and many other odors become more apparent when you're sitting still. As I emerge from the swamp to a local street, the sharp, artificially sweetened reek of dryer sheets from a nearby house assaults my nose. Do we really require that much volume on an odor in order to feel clean? ###

Trees. Of snakes and clams...

2010-02-19T19:39:00.001-08:00

My Trees series is about dormancy, death and decay. Perfect for our New England Winter.

Between Newtonville and the Watertown Dam, the Charles River is narrow, shallow and muddy. I used to take my daughter for walks down here when she was little.

The ducks, geese, turtles, squirrels and other semi-suburban beasts are almost close enough to touch.

The black muck on the southern bank of the river is full of agreeably rotting, moldy and fungal remnants of once living trees. Perfect for a late afternoon photo expedition.

CulEbra laughably presented itself down by the river bank. It looked like a large, long, thick, limp...uh...snake, draped carelessly between the outstretched, upended legs of the tree at the top of the frame. "Culebra" is the spanish word for "snake." It also has other connotations.

CulEbra also reminded me of the geoduck clams I saw at a farmer's market in San Francisco. Pronounced "gooey-duck," Panope generosa is a giant, obscene-looking edible clam. You can tell the tourists at the market, because when they first see the geoducks, they blush, turn on their heels and giggle. I am told they're delicious. The geoducks, not the tourists.

"HighTide" is an example of clear evidence of a recently higher water level. I love glimpsing the submerged roots of this tree through the clear water. Reflections of trees on the other bank are seen at the top of the frame. And the fallen, floating leaf seems perfectly placed (no, I didn't put it there) for this portrait.

There are many other compelling sights here where the river is narrow and light dapples through the naked winter trees.

Soon I must get a pair of waders so I can go out to the middle of the stream and catch the setting sun. ###

Music

2010-02-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

Roberto Mighty has written and produced two musical albums and written 150 original musical compositions for TV, corporate film and video.

He started playing guitar at 13 and and built the first of several professional recording studios at age 17.

Roberto writes lyrics, music and arrangements, sings and plays several instruments, although guitar is his specialty. His instrument collection includes a '57 Reissue Fender Stratocaster; a Brazilian Flamenco guitar; an acoustic/electric hollow body bass guitar; a Spanish classical guitar; an acoustic dreadnought steel-string guitar; a solid-body nylon string electric classical guitar; an upright grand piano; two electric keyboards; myriad percussion instruments and a full multitrack computer-assisted professional recording studio setup.

In 2008, after an eight year hiatus from recording and performing, Roberto released a solo album called "KiTCHEN MuSIC" to rave reviews on iTunes and Amazon:

***** "...terrific, sensitive guitar" *****"I highly recommend KiTCHEN MuSIC to listeners of all levels - jazz lovers and non-jazz lovers" *****"....the rapturous vocals and intricately woven harmonies on "Autumn Leaves" invoke a multi-colored airborne leaf ballet"...*****"brings sophisticated guitar chops and arrangements to these great American lyrical songs"...*****"...sure to enliven any room, from the kitchen to the boudoir"*****...*****"guest artist Walter Beasley's transfixing saxophone solo"..."Bravo and kudos" FULL REVIEWS

Last year he teamed up with Kathryn Howell, a remarkable vocalist. Together they formed a vocal/guitar jazz duo, "Roberto & Kathryn" that has been getting rave reviews.

REVIEWS for Roberto & Kathryn's debut CD
"If "A Foggy Day" is on Roberto & Kathryn's set list, the fog will clear for miles... The vocals and guitar duo of Kathryn Howell and Roberto Mighty recorded their debut album live in WGBH's studios. "Don't Explain" is a tribute to the Great American Songbook with heaping servings of sensuality and romance, particularly "Lover Man," a nice warm up for Valentine's Day. George Gershwin and Duke Ellington would be proud." - The Boston Globe

Roberto & Kathryn are a vocal jazz/guitar duo featuring Kathryn Howell, Vocals and Roberto Mighty, Guitar and Vocals. Their debut album, "Don't Explain," consists of covers from the Great American Songbook (Gershwin, Ellington, Mercer, Holliday, etc.) recorded live at WGBH studios in Boston.

Roberto & Kathryn are most often compared to Tuck & Patti, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Joe Pass & Ella Fitzgerald; but this duo is unique for their romantic, intimate, sensuous interpretations.

"Roberto and Kathryn are a dynamic duo that is bringing back the current trends for male/female vocal teams... They do a laudable portrayal of Jazz song classics written by such greats as Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, George Gershwin, Billy Strayhorn, Richard Rogers, George Shearing, Johnny Mercer and more. They have chosen an array of songs that span the moods of love, life, positive energy and inspiration. This CD is magnetic! Roberto & Kathryn invite you into their world, which is universal, touching and artfully presented. "Don't Explain" is perfect for Valentines Day all year!" - By Eric Frazier, Jazz Journalist

© 2010 Roberto Mighty www.robertomightyart.blogspot.com

Trees Series. Stills, 2010...continued

2010-02-18T18:10:00.000-08:00

My Trees series is about dormancy, death and decay.

On my walk today I peeked through a hedge and saw this incredible sight -- the rotted, decapitated stump of the once-mighty guardian of the estate partially hidden behind it.

My wide-angle lensing choice exaggerates the distance from the stump to the manor house. I did this in order to accentuate the idea that this sentry (hence "SenTree") is now discarded, forgotten, literally marginalized, robbed of its role and left to decay.

On the way back to my house, I saw a man and his son tapping a giant sugar maple in their front yard. My interest caught the guy's attention. He motioned for me to come over, and we proceeded to have a delightful conversation about tapping, invasive species, the symbiotic relationship of root fungi to trees, and many other arboresque topics. So, hello there Eric and Eli Olsen...

The light was fading fast, so I started heading home -- hoping perhaps to capture one or two more images before I'd have to hold the shutter open too long to make it feasible to get an image without a tripod.

Of course, that's when I came across this spectacular, ridged fungal growth on the limb seen here in SymBiosis. I took several exposures in the darkening light, holding the shutter open longer and longer each time, holding my breath so I didn't shake my trusty camera. After about nine tries, I finally got it in focus with the shallow depth of field you see here. Bingo. ###

Trees Series. Blue Heron Bridge.

2010-02-17T06:17:00.000-08:00

Continuing with my Trees series themes of dormancy, death and decay, I visited the Charles River area around Blue Heron Bridge. A cold wind wound around my gloves, making each decision to remove them to capture an image costly.

The river is very narrow and shallow at this location -- perfect for dead and rotting trees.

On the way, I noticed the spectacularly lit scene captured in TradHem. The title is a contraction of two Swedish words -- "Trad" for tree and "Hem" for home. I chose the title because this tree is in front of the Scandinavian Living Center in West Newton. I love how this mighty specimen dwarfs the "living center." Pshaw. Mature trees of this size, which provide an ecosystem for thousands of plant and animal species, have forgotten more than we'll ever know about "living."

Down by the river, the scene of LimbDown presented itself. We think of trees as aerial structures, part of our skyscape. This limb, felled so ignominiously in the water and subsurface muck, struck me as poignant.

This image has many other elements -- the shadow of the living limb on the right is the Derridian "trace" of a tree, and perhaps mocks or sympathizes with the downed limb. Their two shadows meet in the water, where they are equals. The ice sheets indicate that the water level was recently higher; and other trees are reflected in the water near the top of the frame, like a Monet canvas. I emphasized the interplay of light and dark by partially desaturating the image. Taking this image nearly brought tears to my eyes. I understand that seeing a downed limb as sad is an all-too-anthropomorphizing take on what is part of nature's cycle of life. But I can't help it. So there...

CathEdral continues an element of the Trees series -- the squirrel's eye view. My daughter and I have been fascinated by the seemingly endless population of squirrels in our town. My Trees series attempts to see them not as quaint and curious creatures underfoot but as an incredibly successful aboriginal population. The exposed natural flying buttresses in this image remind me of our trip to Notre Dame. I angled the camera so as to reveal the stratospheric height of this tree -- a connection to the divine, perhaps. The various holes, rot, damage and other incursions to this tree serve only to reveal to us its true nature -- as a giant ecosystem.

Large holes in trees are darkly intriguing. PanTree is an example. In that deep, dank, odiferous and slimy maw, what (hopefully) sharp-toothed, exotic creature might be in there, zealously guarding its nest? My inner 13-year old was dying to whip off my glove and plunge my camera in shoulder deep and take a flash photo. My outer adult vetoed this idea in no uncertain terms. Visions of rabies, lockjaw and Old Yeller being put down danced in my head.

Instead, I shot this one from the rim of the hole. After looking at the image at home, I realized that if turned upside down, it made a perfect pair of tree pants. Hence, PanTree. A word that also evokes what trees are to many creatures -- a source of food.

Again, squirrels live in a three-dimensional world unlike our own squashed two dimensions. Squirrels move not only left, right, back and front, as we do -- but also up and down, with what seems to us to be preternatural speed. "Up" and "down" may be concepts that are quite different for them...if they even have such expressions in squirrel-speak.

Holes like this one are stunning in their almost furniture-like smoothness, especially when juxtaposed against the rough bark outside. Wow. ###

Trees series. Stills, 2010 Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T08:18:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day, morning. The air was cold, crisp and so dry that I felt my lens could see all the way through to the stratosphere.

At magic hour, on my way to get flowers for my sweetheart, I noticed these four amazing sights as the sun hung low in the sky, angling through the upper branches.

These mature deciduous trees are near my home. Two of these pieces form a diptych: "CoExist" illustrates a peaceful relationship of the tree to the wires -- a rapprochement of the built environment and the natural world.

"AmpuTree" shows that human/natural relationship in a different light. This tree has had a limb amputated in order to make way for our crude network in the sky.

"TriAngle" combines elements of tree, wires and jet contrail in a compositionally stark portrayal.

"GangLion" reprises a theme that fascinates me: the repetition in nature of certain physical forms. I first noticed this while looking at a common garden bush after a windstorm. Its limbs had twisted into the characteristic nautilus shape of the mathematical representation known as the fibonacci series -- much like our Milky Way galaxy. In this image, the de-leaved tree shows its underlying structure to be similar to neuronal networks. I shot it backlit in order to reduce it visually to two dimensions.

Artists' statement: Trees Series, Still Photography. Roberto Mighty, 2010.

Death. Decay. Desiccation. My thoughts these days have turned to the ends of things. Our northeastern linden, elm, maple and oak trees, previously robust and fecund, appear in February to be mort. "Los arboles mueren de pie" -- the trees die on their feet.

But they are not dead. Only dormant. In this state, their stark beauty can be appreciated by those who truly love them for what they are. Keepers of life and resurrection. Superstructures for whole communities. Architecturally perfect eco-urban monoliths.

What is a tree to a squirrel? Would we even have words for that experience? These images seek to imagine that. Among other things. ###

Walkers Series: Manhattan samples

2010-02-11T21:23:00.000-08:00

Walkers Series. Animation/Live Action/Line Art. Winter 2010

My "Walkers" series continues to evolve. So far, I am filming in High-Definition on the streets of New York and Massachusetts, mapping immigrant, youth, LGBT and other subcultures to a video-embedded GPS map.

My plan is to film walkers in many cities and towns domestically and overseas.

Walkers considers gait, social position, class, ethnicity, religion and age -- among other factors -- in an effort to map social settlement patterns (geographic and chronological,) chance juxtapositions, and other urban moments.

For audio, I am experimenting with both sound design (multi-layered natural sound elements from each location) and "live scoring," recording directly to the video track using acoustic instruments that I have around my studio, such as a kalimba and shakers.

In "whitePants" (Boston Common) a walker wearing white pants moves across a busy street as many other people pass by.

In "sideWalk" (Downtown Crossing) I briefly experiment with reducing images of walking people to line art.

In "oneSock" (Manhattan) A man with one sock showing crosses the street. A woman with sunglasses, all dressed in black, walks with a turned-in knee. Three workmen approach, in lockstep. A man strides by impassively, a giant sausage -- or perhaps a prayer rug -- gift wrapped in white over his shoulder. 20 seconds is stretched to a minute and a half so we can see details that otherwise may escape us in real time.

In "coldDay" (Chinatown) the camera walks through pedestrians until discovered by an elderly couple.

2010-02-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

War Narratives Series. Cinematic Stills. 2010

The War Narratives series is a collaboration between Performance Artist Kathryn Howell and myself. The character portrayed in this initial diptych is dealing with the realities of war. On the home front. In a there and then when women had fewer options than they do in the here and now.

She does what she has to do. What would you do? What would you not do? Don't answer so quickly.

The War Narratives series addresses not the heroic deeds on the battlefields...but the mundane, unheralded daily struggle for the survival of human dignity.

No machine guns. No foxholes. No territory lost and gained. Instead: Rent. Food. Shoes for children. Medicine for the elderly. Resistance. Submission. Victimization. Predation. Time. Memory. Ritual. Dignity. No less hard-fought. No less glorious.

The War Narratives series is inspired by history, current events and cultural touchstones such as Lina Wertmuller's Italian film "Seven Beauties;" Edwidge Danticat's book "Brother, I'm Dying;" and Letyat zhuravli's Russian film, "The Cranes Are Flying."

Our series visually locates these issues in a common western memory, mid 20th century. But it's been happening for millennia, and is taking place throughout the world, right now.

We agreed that we would make no judgements on the character with this series. We would seek only to present her situations as we feel them.

Trees Series.

2010-02-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

TREES SERIES, Stills. 2010

Death. Decay. Desiccation. My thoughts these days have turned to the ends of things. Our northeastern linden, elm, maple and oak trees, previously robust and fecund, appear in February to be mort. "Los arboles mueren de pie" -- the trees die on their feet.

But they are not dead. Only dormant. In this state, their stark beauty can be appreciated by those who truly love them for what they are. Keepers of life and resurrection. Superstructures for whole communities. Architecturally perfect eco-urban monoliths.

For "TreeMother," I envisioned a squirrel's-eye-view of what might be a connecting ramp to the suburban superhighway -- the rodentine beltway for the canopy of mature trees in the neighborhood.

For "TreeKnees," the gloriously rough three-dimensional layering of bark in this inverted dual-trunk tree appears to be the mons veneris and knees of an impossibly aged dowager.

For "Self Portrait," I adjusted aperture, ISO and shutter speed to enhance the shadow of the telephone poll, the tree and myself, keeping my arms in so as to hide the silhouette of my camera. Elongated legs and vanishing-point trunk. The pole leans in to the living tree, imagining itself alive again. I stand in the middle, completing a triangular narrative of death and exploitation by human hands. A stiltwalker's trois de deux.

This project had its start eight years ago, when I photographed mold, lichen and moss on tree bark as my daughter and I X-country skied through nearby woods. I was transfixed by the vibrant blues, greens and aquamarines. A riot of color against bleak snow, brown earth, grey bark and impossibly blue sky.

On my walk today I spontaneously started imaging lichens again after the 8-year hiatus...and then suddenly stepped back to take in the lines of whole trees.

What is a tree to a squirrel? Would we even have words for that experience? These images seek to imagine that. Among other things. ###

Current Projects

2010-01-19T17:02:00.000-08:00

I’m currently working on four original projects –”Scars,” “Walkers,” "Trees" and “KolorGirlz.” I'm also collaborating with an artist on another project: "War Narratives."

"Scars" is about the violent marks people have on their bodies and how those scars affect their psyche. Besides filming and editing the project, I'm designing a three-chambered multimedia (stills, projection and audio) gallery installation and a flash website.

"Walkers" utilizes HD to map immigrant and other subcultures throughout the USA. In addition to filming and editing the project, I’m designing an immersive, interactive multimedia installation for galleries and a video-embedded GPS website.

“KolorGirlz” is my feature documentary on transgressive women comedians across the country. It features transgendered, lesbian, Korean, Persian and African-American professional standup comics. I’ve been working on it for several years and am now in post-production. KolorGirlz is fiscally sponsored by IFP/NY and was workshopped at the Latino Producer’s Academy in Santa Fe.

"Trees" is a series of stills on dead, desiccated or seasonally dormant linden, elm, maple and oak trees in my neighborhood.

"War Narratives" is a series collaboration with Performance Artist Kathryn Howell. The character portrayed in this project is dealing with the realities of war. On the home front. In a there and then when women had fewer options than they do in the here and now.

Photos copyright R. Mighty 2007 - 2010