Windfall

Day 39: As I've mentioned before, I repurpose the leaves of my deciduous trees as weed-barrier material, soil additives in the form of compost, and as mulch/insulation for frost-sensitive plants. My Desert King fig probably could withstand temperatures into the teens, but as my mother used to say, "Better safe than sorry." After spreading a thick layer of Japanese maple and dogwood windfall over a nasty patch of buttercups at the end of my carport, I had plenty left over to mound up around the fig. This morning, they were touched with frost and struck my eye as beautiful even in their deteriorated state. It is here where black-and-white photography comes into its full rights. When colour would be a distraction in the broad view, monochrome allows us to focus on details: grain, texture, light and shadow. A pile of brown, wet leaves is not a particularly pretty sight, but when reduced to shades of grey, leaf margins and veins pop to the forefront and demand that we recognize them as a major component of the work. Do not dismiss black-and-white photography as a relic of bygone days, but embrace it for what it is: an art unto itself.