Street Photography, Illusion and Tree Goddesses

Tree goddesses are usually associated with antiquity and are represented in a variety of cultures, for example Celtic tree deities, dryads in Greek mythology and  Kodama – Japanese spirits that inhabit trees.

I’ve previously drawn together some images of People in Trees featuring actual people sitting in trees. This collection is different. I’ve noticed the juxtaposition of tree imagery and the female form in some of my street photography. I like the combination of representation –  urban nature and the visuals of the city seen on billboards and buildings. These photographs include found imagery from the world of advertising, as well as the ambiguous human quality of mannequins in shop windows.

In a not so strange coincidence – in that I tend to have precise cycles of responding to certain imagery – the photograph below was taken exactly three years ago today in New York.

And one from the other day in Oxford Street, London:

Some images I’ve taken in the past few years:

2012:

Simmer Goddess, 2013:

Another from 2014:

Perhaps harder to detect, here’s an upside down tree deity – her hands holding her temples – from 2013:

Winter tree goddess, Hampstead 2018

A confrontational tree goddess from winter 2015:

Last summer I was struck by this olive tree seen in Lecce, Italy, and its suggestion of the female form:

I sketched it using watercolours – here’s my tree goddess:

And finally here’s another leafy and summer- accessorised  tree goddess from last week, seen in Oxford Street:

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