Storm Tree (2009) Photograph by Gary Moger

Near Julian, California. 2009.

The road is icing over and the storm is right behind you.
That morning Gary surfed. Then he hired one of the first electric cars anyone had ever seen, pointed it through the desert and up into the mountains above San Diego. The snow came fast. The road froze faster. Two-wheel drive. Steep descent. Snail's pace. White knuckles on the wheel.

And then — around one icy corner — this.

A winding track through high desert scrub, the whole landscape drained to blue-grey and cold. Dry grasses. Bare branches. And standing right there in the middle of it all, one ancient, gloriously twisted tree reaching its arms into a sky that has absolutely made up its mind.
He jumped out. Shot as many frames as he dared. Got back in the car and got off that mountain.
This is one of those images that could only happen by accident — by being somewhere you weren't supposed to be, moving slower than you wanted, with a camera and the sense to use it.
Shot on a Leica M10 and printed on Hahnemühle Bamboo archival paper. Full frame, never cropped, exactly as it was.
Each print is made entirely by hand in Gary's own studio. Every stage, from camera to finished print, is carried out by Gary himself. Never outsourced. Always personal.

Materials used:

Leica M10, Hahnemuhle Bamboo Archival paper

Details:

• Photograph on Paper
• From a limited edition of 150
• Size: 104.14 x 73.66 x 0.25cm (unframed) / 101.6 x 68.33cm (actual image size)
• Signed and numbered certificate of authenticity
• Style: Photorealistic
• Subject: Landscapes, sea and sky
• Hurry, only 1 left in stock