Urban Forest: Images of Trees in the Human Landscape

David Paul Bayles

ISBN 10: 1578050960 / ISBN 13: 9781578050963

Published by Sierra Club Books, 2003

About this Item

VG hardcover in VG jacket. 2003. SIGNED by AUTHOR on title page w/no inscription. Pages all clean/unmarked. Black/white photography throughout. Midlest of scuffs/edge wear. Binding solid. Jacket clean, unclipped and solid with mild wear. 144 pp. OVERSIZE volume. Seller Inventory # L04796

Bibliographic Details

Title: Urban Forest: Images of Trees in the Human ...

Publisher: Sierra Club Books

Publication Date: 2003

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

Beyond their esthetic and utilitarian importance, urban trees seem to fill a deeper human need. Perhaps they are reminders of the inexorable cycles of the natural world. Perhaps they serve as eddies and rills of slowness and sureness within the frantic rush of our urban environment.
For more than two decades, photographer David Paul Bayles has been making images of trees in cities and suburbs--places of tension, as he puts it, between "what we build and what we grow." This beautifully designed and produced volume showcases his extraordinary vision of urban trees and their often precarious, sometimes triumphant place in the human landscape.
Initially drawn to his subject by "the balance and harmony and beauty between the manmade structure and the tree," Bayles has also found and photographed plenty of imbalance and human folly along the way. His images are laconic, almost deadpan, yet at the same time infused with irony, humor, and compassion. They avoid the easy trap of politicization, allowing and encouraging each of us to see the relationship between humankind and trees--in all of its complexity--for ourselves.
This much is certain: Those who delve into the pages of this remarkable book will never again look at the trees around them in quite the same way.

From the Inside Flap:

"David Bayles's photographs in Urban Forest speak eloquently with a quiet intensity. The book explores the concept that the natural world exists not only in the wilderness, but also in our everyday urban surroundings. These thoughtful photographs cause the viewer to pause and consider the delicate balance between human activity and the natural environment."--John Sexton

"Looking through these photographs provides an intimate experience of beautiful and sensual beings living amongst us who just happen to be trees."--Andy Lipkis, president, TreePeople

"David Bayles's photographs embrace a story that has fascinated Euro-American artists since the beginning of the United States--the transformation of the landscape. With wilderness long since relegated to the gated preserves of National Parks, Bayles reminds us of the continued importance of nature in our twenty-first century, increasingly urbanized lives. With one eye toward the simplicity of linear geometry and the other fascinated by the narrative potential of juxtaposition, Bayles's images compel us to reevaluate the manufactured naturalism of our daily environment."--Glenn Willumson, Director, Graduate Program in Museum Studies, College of Fine Arts, University of Florida