Trees

For a year I documented abandoned Christmas Trees in Los Angeles. It began in early January and ended in mid December.

The work is the process of searching, driving, biking, and walking through LA. Looking under bridges. Photographing people's yards. Search for something that has been forgotten.
The photographs become visual evidence of the trees existence. Portraits. I can't protect the objects. They have been dead since they were cut down, long before they were placed into people's homes. As the photographs progress one's can see the decay of the trees. The trees are corpses. They turn brown, their needles fall off, and they become merely sticks.

The photographs document Christmas trees from January, the time in which they are thrown out to December, right before they are purchased again. I follow the full cycle of objects as they move from trash cans to alleyways and eventually disappear.
Every year one will purchase these trees and toss them away after the holidays and the cycle will be repeated again and again. The photographs are taken in Los Angeles, pine trees are not native to LA county due to its desert climate. Not only do they look artificial in one's home, but they present a major fire hazard during the dry summer.


Is the project about exploring the negative side of Christmas trees? I think the goal of the work is not to press my politics, nor am I quiet sure what my option on these trees are. These trees exceptionally LA. In a city known for its ability to "forget", I am trying to remember these objects before they are gone.
TREES