Straightened trees

This series features silver gelatin prints of trees shot on large-format film and then straightened with custom code, giving strip malls, telephone poles, and restaurant signs the curves that once belonged to the elms, palms, and oaks they stand beside. It uses media less associated with technology, in part to emphasize algorithmic and human processes rather than technological tools. Using custom code, the natural curvature of each tree is "corrected." Manufactured objects, i.e., buildings and power lines, twist and contort around the artificially plumbed tree. Each photo is shot on large-format film, the only medium that captures enough detail to straighten the tree without pixelly artifacts. Because the trees need to include human-made objects (such as buildings) straight-on, they are often shot from a car's point of view. That aspect, plus the fact that all were shot in North America, emphasizes the classic photographic road trip (e.g., Lee Friedlander's America By Car).