IT`S TREE TIME – „Images in Trees“ by Paul Rolans

„DIVERSITY – IMAGES IN TREES“

With his photographs, Paul Rolans would like to draw attention to the beauty, diversity and uniqueness of our forests and at the same time sensitize the viewer to the preservation of this part of our environment.
His motifs are trees: weathered tree bark, cracked annual rings, dancing light reflections and shadows on injured bark. Everything is brought very close to the eye of the camera. Known facts are not immediately revealed, but have to be deciphered by the viewer. Sculptural forms are modelled out in amazing colours. He consciously did not give titles to his works, because he does not want to patronize the audience in his interpretation and do not want to restrict seeing and recognizing, because in this Paul Rolans also sees the possibility of an intensive dialogue.
Federal Environment Minister Dr. Angela Merkel:“The protection of our forests in the sense of sustainable development is a task that places high demands both nationally and globally. In addition to the functional diversity of forests and their significance for our climate, forests are of particular importance in mythology, legends and poetry in many cultures. This meaning is subject to change, as the forest itself changes and its face changes over generations. I am pleased that Paul Rolan’s Images in Trees present the many faces of the forest in a way that captivates us with its diversity of forms and inspires dialogue through the pictorial quality of the shown.“
More information and Videos at http://images-in-trees.blogspot.de/

„IMAGES IN TREES – In Search of Colours, Forms and Figures“
As a rule, photographers are always searching; searching for motifs and ideas. Paul Rolans has found his motif and his idea: trees.
In recent decades we have come to appreciate that trees and forests fulfil vital live-giving functions in the rhythms and cycles of Nature.
Paul Rolans knows these functions, he has forged an intimate relationship to Nature and especially to trees. In the literal sense of the word he is seeking to get close to them.
The word tree tends to evoke an associative chain of images in our minds: the trunk and crown, perhaps the colour green. Yet by intensifying his exploration, Paul Rolans‘ photos avoid these superficial clicheés.
His objective is to challenge our normal, selective perception which usually only registers general features. He sensitises the observer’s perception with great subtlety. He guides and beguiles the observer into focussing on the closeness and clarity of detail, on the experience of visual touch.
Paul Rolans‘ eyes scan every minute detail, and in the totality they seek and find the special. His camera elicits colour and form from the bark, detects faces and figures which become signs.
When his searching gaze has found the form, he both extracts and abstracts from Nature’s offerings. Paul Rolans transforms his discoveries into images; the colours, forms and figures emancipates themselves from their origins and become autonomous visual entities in their own right.
Coloured surfaces, which appear so untypical for trees, surprise us by their intensity or by the interplay of their broken hues.
Forms, structured by light, take on aggressive tips and edges, whilst others display a harmonious, organic structure. Dynamic lines and coloured gradients serve to galvanise the static image into motion.
We are familiar with the human face from birth and our perception seems to have an innate preference for recognising human physiognomies and figures. Paul Rolans rekindles these instincts with suggestive lines and contours, highlights them in his photos, allowing the eye to fill in the gaps to complete the image.
Faces appear over primordial landscapes, angels float above surfaces. Figures, forms and colours interact, captivating our attention and perception.
Paul Rolans reveals to us a new kind of Nature! We discover our own modes of perception, geared as they are to identification and recognition in order to structure our environment.
The photos presented by Paul Rolans take us beyond this function. In the process of recognition we discover the puzzling and the new. We see images which Nature only reveals on closer scrutiny and for this Paul Rolans deserves our gratitude.
Dr. Marlene Schnelle-Schneyder DGPh (German Society for Photography)