When the Trees Sing — Barbara Dombach
When the Trees Sing
Barbara Dombach
"When the Trees Sing" is an exploration and imaginative journey of what my senses envision the forest is saying to me.
I was a curious child and began piano lessons at a young age, but music did not become my passion. All I wanted to do was be outdoors and in the woodland with my grandfather and father. They harvested the dead trees for firewood. When all the cutting went silent, I would listen to the sound of the movements of tree leaves curling and limbs as they stretched and rubbed one another. The sounds were like a song, like an unfinished composition filled with scattered whole, quarter, and half notes in different octaves.
I still visit the same woodland on the back of my property to sit, reflect, and listen to their songs. Some movements emanate strong boisterous notes, creating the emotion of the music. These can set a rhythm while others perform a melody and blend with the harmony and eventually, the musical piece takes shape.
I question the fate of the forest I protect and wonder if the songs the trees sing will remain joyous, proud, timid, or shy, or cry for help and weep in pain and sadness.
Barbara Dombach is a self-taught photographic artist who has an incurable passion for using her camera for interpretation of self and world that has lasted over thirty-five years. Born and raised on her grandparent’s and parent’s farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, hints of her life experiences are seen throughout her projects. As a storyteller and documentarian, inspiration for Barbara can materialize in the simplest of ways; after reading a statement from the words her grandmother inscribed in her diaries, a child’s drawing, and a journey to find a sense of place and spirit or remembrance of an unfinished dream. The photographic image, kindled from memory, family, identity, reflection, passages, experience, and exploration, with elements of mystery and hints of ambiguity, both past and present, is how she tells her stories.
