from walking
Since my move to Ohio from the more sinus friendly climate of the California coast, I have noticed that in late March and early April my nose itches, my eyes water, and I sneeze incessantly for a period of about three weeks. Searching for the cause of my allergy symptoms, I began to collect parts of trees that had fallen to the ground or were hanging from branches within reach of my outstretched hands. Instead of my eyes, my sense of smell and seasonal allergy were suggesting a future photographic project. Nineteenth century naturalists like Sir John Herschel, William Henry Fox Talbot, and Anna Atkins recorded their researches in photogenic drawings. Some 170 years later I have returned to their photographic investigations by collecting parts of trees, scanning the specimens and creating images from them using the historic Vandyke Brown Print process.
Realizing that many of the images were found or collected on walks, I wished to acknowledge its importance to my photographic way of seeing by calling this chapter of the Van Dyke Brown project, from walking.
