Hannah Runnels – Staff Writer
The latest exhibit at The Southeast Museum of Photography featured Chuck Hemard’s images of “The Pines,” a series exploring the remainder of old-growth longleaf pine lands across the Southeast United States.
As part of the exhibition, on April 4 the SMP welcomed the photographer, who is an Associate Professor of Art in the Department of Art and History at Auburn University, Alabama.
Introducing Hemard, the Director of the SMP, James Pearson, greeted the crowd, saying, “So tonight I am introducing an exhibit on pine trees, but if you thought you’d get out of here without me mentioning politics then you are mistaken.
“I was once approached by a member of our local community and asked why we don’t do ‘nice’ exhibits. If that person were here tonight, they might be satisfied with the niceness of these trees and landscapes, but that’s all surface. Behind these forests of long leaf pines is a kind of resistance movement, an ecological, political campaign against both the dismissal of visual arts and the deterioration of the natural environment.”
This acted as a reminder of the importance of Hemard’s beautiful landscape imagery and set the tone for how attendees perceived his images.
“When I think of situating my work in the context of landscape, I’m hesitant to say pure landscape. To me, by in large it has not been something that happens a lot in the American South,” said the photographer. “There are some exceptions to that in Florida — the Everglades is such a rich place, but the landscape to me and the history of photography that occurs in the South is more of a cultural landscape or social landscape rather than nature.
“But don’t be deceived, I think there’s a lot of human presence in my work,” he added, in reference to how he defines his work and the sort of historical context it holds.
Continuing, Hemard told the crowd, “This was the landscape that covered the Southeast plains prior to European settlement and was largely been decimated, mostly in the late 19th and early 20th century by industrial scale timbering operations.”
Longleaf forests, about 150 to 200 years ago, he explained, were erased by the industrial removal of literally tens of millions of acres. Hemard hopes his images spread awareness of the natural history of the landscape and its importance to the ecosystem. During his comments, he reiterated that they are among the Americas most significant precious resources, although for most people that fact stays under the radar. Many are unaware that longleaf pines are old growth trees that live for 400 years or more.
“The historic range of longleaf pine initially covered some 60 to 90 million acres that stretch from Virginia to east Texas. At its lowest, it was documented in the 1990s to be down from the 60 to 90 million figure to some 3 million acres. That’s on a little bit of an uptick now, due to a resurgence of interest in restoring this species of trees.”
While explaining such dismal facts, Hemard still provided a sliver of hope to an ominous reality. There is a strong sense of place in his images, providing contrast to what most of us see daily in our homogenized landscape that Hemard describes as the “suburban sprawl.” He likes the challenge of displaying what was and is special about these landscapes.
In closing, Hemard discussed the significance of research, describing it as key in establishing a reconnection to the land by having more knowledge of it and how it looks.
“If there are some places left that are still distinct and special, then we ought to think about the way they look, and that’s a big driving factor for me. I’m spouting a lot of facts and figures because it’s important to have that knowledge, but at the same time visual knowledge is just as important, so hopefully these pictures serve in that capacity.”
He said before he embarks on a photo shoot, he conducts a little bit of research that informs his creative work, “So I’m reading all this, then I’m shlepping an 8×10 view camera out into the field.”
Biodiversity is at the heart of his message. And Hemard explained exactly how it can be preserved. Ironically, it is in the destructive force of fire.
“When this ecosystem is maintained with fire — frequent, non-fatal fire — its biodiversity can rival the tropical rainforest. Biologists say if you take one square meter of this kind of ecosystem that has been properly maintained, there are up to 100 different species of plant life in that one square meter. Fire is the most vital variable to the life and being of this landscape.”
That scientific truth led Hemard to become a certified Prescribed Burn Manager in the state of Alabama, so that he can create images, while gaining knowledge of an essential natural process that plays an important role in the life of the pinelands ecosystem.
A sadder aspect of Hemard’s work are images of the pines no longer with us.
“One thing I became attracted to as I made the work were pictures of snag trees, dead trees. They’re quite interesting because they can remain standing for some time — a decade or longer after they die. To me this idea of the structural form against the sky gives them strength. It’s almost like a skeleton of the tree against this majestic sky.”
In truth, some of his most captivating work is subtitled “Together.” Those powerful images are a symbol of grace and beauty in the process of dying. In that sense the trees are now icons of memory. Others have stood together proudly for many human generations and remain standing after a long life together. Like Hemard’s work, that is truly a beautiful sentiment.