Via BoingBoing came this video on the Broccoli Tree by the vlogbrothers
You can visit the instagram stream at thebroccolitree.
As art, it’s fascinating as it shows how many ways the same tree and framing can produce so many different views. The video, sadly, brings up what happens you share something like this.
It’s disheartening, as one project I had in my mind was to go and track down some of the most endangered plants in the UK. In the case of mosses, a macro lens and a description like Cornwall would obscure location. However, some of the trees on the list are in surprisingly urban locations. It’s a lot more difficult to photograph a tree without including some background context revealing its location. Drawing attention to trees like this would be an effective way of removing them by proxy.
The fact we know that vandalism would happen reveals something about the power of plants. Imagine being so threatened by the idea of someone photographing a tree that you have to cut it down.
As for Patrik Edberg, he’s still photographing what catches his eyes, including trees.