This photograph is called “and as the strangers stood ’round the tree, it came back to life” {a dream i once had}
It was completely birthed in my subconscious during my sleep one night. In my dream, I saw these few strangers walking through a field of emptiness, mostly empty trees in the dead of night. The three people didn’t know each other, but something stirred inside of them at the same time and they joined hands. They joined hands and looked expectantly towards one of the dead trees, and as they did, it began to spark and light up and came back to life.
Honesty Box: I don’t pretend to know what this dream means.
Honesty Box #2: One of the main reasons I created this piece, went to the trouble of dragging 5 people into a field with all my photo and lighting equipment on a cold November night, was in hopes that someone who saw it might know the meaning.
This photograph is part of my solo exhibit dreams & visions hanging at COPPeR in downtown Colorado Springs currently. People commented on it a lot, especially wanting to know how I made it. It is in fact one image, not a composite Photoshopped kinda thing. I used steel wool to get the sparks in the background, as well as a whisk, a 9 Volt battery, a long cord, a fire extinguisher (key!), and two brave high school students (one to hold the fire extinguisher and the other to swing the steel wool). The piece of steel wool goes into the whisk, which is connected to a cord so you can sling it. The 9-volt battery is used to strike against the steel wool because it causes it to spark and catch fire, and once it’s sparking you hold the whole thing by the end of the cord and sling it around like you’re mad at it.
I had this conversation a lot, explaining to people how steel wool photography works and how I pulled this shot off. Unfortunately, no one really had any thoughts about the dream itself. So, I’m putting it out there to the world wide web in hopes to hear thoughts from others. What might this dream mean for you? For us? Feel free to comment or message me, cause I would love to hear what this image “sparks” in you. Happy Friday, y’all.
