Cottonwood Tree, Cache la Poudre River Possibly 1997 - 2000

William Wylie created this gelatin silver print, Cottonwood Tree, Cache la Poudre River, by exposing light onto a photosensitive surface to create an image. I love the way he hones in on the bark, it's like a landscape in itself, all these intricate crevices and patterns. The texture is amazing, right? You can almost feel the roughness, the age, of that tree, Wylie really emphasizes the materiality of the subject. The way the light plays on the surface, creating deep shadows and highlights, gives it so much depth. See how the lines of the bark, all those little gestures, lead your eye up and around the trunk? It's like a map, or maybe a history book, etched onto the tree. This reminds me a little bit of Bernd and Hilla Becher’s photographs of industrial structures – I like the way Wylie hones in on a single subject to reveal its unique character. Art isn't about fixed answers, it is about embracing the questions and possibilities.