Size: 7.5” x 7.5” on 8.5” x 11” JonCone Studio Type 5 Paper

Signed & stamped in verso

A forest stream is a visual expression of tranquilness. Sitting on moss in a forest next to flowing water is a living poem. It is succinct in its natural prose. There’s a cultural movement called forest bathing or nature therapy, the Japanese call it shinrin-yoku. The idea is to just spend time in nature, to walk barefoot in the earth, to bath in the relaxation it brings.

Do we need to name it? Are we that disconnected from nature that we have to label the act of just being under trees. I’m torn because if calling it something attractive like forest bathing gets more people out into nature that’s a good thing but to label it almost belittles the grace in the act, like it’s another marketable fad whereas being in nature should be a cultural centerpiece.

The power is not in the name or even in the act, it’s in the letting go of self. To sit next to a flowing stream under trees, without thought, is it to be as close to Mother Earth as is possible.

Location: Cataract Creek, Mt. Tam CA

Technical Info: Hasselblad, Kodak T-Max 100 BW Film, Zeiss 120mm, Deep Yellow #12, developed in Kodak X-tol 1:1.