(P. ramorum) V: Ground Work

Phytophthora ramorum (P.ramorum)

Location: Glenariffe Forest Park

This was an odd one for me. I was photographing the affected area to discover how to photograph the content for this project.

Although the subject matter is pressing, engaging and urgent, the method of repeating a photographic composition is not. Making portraits of dead and dying tree stumps is boring (when considered en masse). The sloping terrain of the Glenariffe forest park combined with the heavily distressed woodland floor makes for 'beautiful' compositions, genuinely lovely images of destruction and deforestation. However, this does not intrigue me.

Instead I am drawn to the details scatted about the scene: painted indicators; chainsaw marks, split trunks, fungi patterns across tree rings, and so on. The beautiful minutia. The wide photographs work well to establish the scene and to record the scale of the soil erosion and deforestation, but the most engrossing points are found by moving much closer.

"The devil is in the detail". This was a favourite mantra of one of my photography teachers, and I suppose this has stuck with me.

P.ramorum, or "Sudden Oak Death", has already had a devestating impact on America in the past decade, specifically Northern California. Here is a video from QUEST's archive series on P.ramorum:

(sorry about the forced crop on the video)

-PM

(P. ramorum) IV: Topographics

With the research side of the P.ramorum project trundling along I need to find a photographic format that will suit the subject matter. When I was photographing the affected area in Glenariffe, in early January, I found it difficult to relay the impact of what I was seeing, and that is why I needed to do additional research.

Although it is hard to think about how the series will come together at this stage it is important to consider where this work would fit into the wider field of contemporary photography. My initial aim is to create a series of photographs in the affected areas, whilst also focusing on the surrounding conservational processes and subsequent implications.

One idea then would be to pick a particular mode of framing and create a catalogue of calculated images, showcasing the fungal infection in this repetitive fashion would highlight the subtle differences between the trees or scenarios. This style of framing and producing images harks back to the photographers involved in the famous the New Topographics exhibtion (1975), curated by William Jenkins. The photographers involved were Bernd and Hilla Becher, Joe Deal, Frank Gohlke, Robert Adams, Nicholas Nixon, John Schott, Lewis Baltz, Shephen Shore, and Henry Wessel Jr.

For a modern review and general insight into New Topographics I would suggest this article by The Guardian.

The photographers involved went on to greatly influence landscape photography throughout the USA and Europe with their particular style.

[more later!]

-PM

(P. ramorum)

A little background to start...

In Europe, including the UK, P. ramorum has been found mainly on container-grown Rhododendron, Viburnum and Camellia plants in nurseries. It was first detected in the UK in 2002, when emergency measures were introduced. The initial measures included destruction of infected plants, a ban on imports of susceptible material from affected areas of the USA, and notification of movements of susceptible nursery stock. These measures were notified to the EU Standing Committee on Plant Health, which agreed EU-wide emergency measures in November 2002, based largely on the UK's action. Those measures are still in place.

Phytophthora ramorum was first identified in the mid-1990s as the cause of widespread devastation of wild oak trees in California and Oregon, USA (which earned it the name 'Sudden oak death').

Source: http://fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/plantHealth/pestsDiseases/phytophthora/pRamorum/

In 2010, P. ramorum came to the Glenariffe Forest Park in the Glens of Antrim. The removal of infected trees has had a serious impact on the landscape of the area.

-PM