Wynn Bullock - Color Light Abstraction 1165 - Featured Image of the Month

THE HORSETAIL, 1957

Commentary by Barbara Bullock-Wilson

This is another short commentary I wrote in the form of a letter to Cameron Rokes, one of my great grandchildren. At the end, it includes a response from him. I invite you to consider what Cam and I share as an enticement to contemplate your own response to this image.

Dearest Cam –

Last month you wrote that Del Monte Forest, 1956 reminded you of a prehistoric forest in the age of dinosaurs and giant dragon flies. Well, this image features a plant called "horsetail". The scientific name for it is "Equisetum" and it is considered a living fossil because it is a direct descendant of a family of plants and trees that grew hundreds of millions of years ago. Some ancestors of the horsetail plant reached as high as 100 feet, and they were part of prehistoric forests before, during, and after dinosaurs roamed the earth and giant dragon flies zoomed through the skies!

The horsetails of today grow to a maximum height of only a few feet. They like moist, wet areas and are abundant in stream-laced woods and damp meadowlands around where I live. When I was your age, I was fascinated by horsetails because they are so unusual looking and because of their ancient history.

Your Great, Great Grandfather Wynn found this particular horsetail growing by an old, abandoned cabin. Although the cabin was built relatively recently – within the last 100 years or so – it is beginning to decay and disintegrate. What we humans build have a short existence and, if left alone, are eventually taken over by natural forces. Even our oldest cities are merely thousands of years old and have been worn down by wind, rain, heat, and cold, sometimes so thoroughly that they have disappeared. In contrast, the horsetail is a plant that dates back eons. It has found a way to adapt, evolve, and survive. This particular horsetail is a symbol of the strength and vitality of nature itself, and the light that illuminates it so beautifully enhances its aliveness. Even the dried tree leaves around it contribute to the story of the cycles and rhythms of life.

One of the other things I like about this image are the differing forms and tones it depicts. The manmade structure is shadowed, rigid, and angular. The horsetail is flexible and graceful, dancing in the light. We learn more about the qualities that make each what it is by contrasting those qualities. We understand light because of dark, growth because of decay. Great, Great Grandfather Wynn referred to this as "opposites are one". You can't have, you can't know, one without the other. He was always aware of this when he created his photographs.

What are the stories you see in The Horsetail? Do you think about the people who built the cabin and what happened to them? Do you imagine what it would be like to be the cabin, growing old and beginning to fall apart? Perhaps you wonder about the horsetail – both ancient and new. What interesting stories could that plant tell?

Looking forward to reading what YOU might have to say about this image –

With much, much love, Great GrandBarb

Dear Great Grand Barb,

I think it's funny how last month I talked about prehistoric times and now this month actually has a prehistoric plant! I also thought it is interesting that it is a living fossil! I wonder if dinosaurs used to snack on that type of plant?!

I love reading what you have to say about every single photo! I love how descriptive and creative you are when you write about the images. Your words make me think differently about each picture!

This picture makes me think of a secret area that no one would ever go to or think of. Looking at The Horsetail makes me wonder how it survived…. I wonder who or what used to live there in the cabin and what lives there now....maybe an owl or even a lizard.

Love you lots!

Cam