Garrett Hollowell Library Book

This is defiantly my favorite photo from John McWilliams' monograph, Land of Deepest Shade.  It's from 1986 and was taken off of Dupre Rd. somewhere in the southern US.  Just like the rest of McWilliams' work in Land of Deepest Shade, the photo is in black and white, and set in the southern United States.  McWilliams tends to be drawn towards change in his photos, photographing trees and landscapes along with buildings and architecture, depicting the connection between the people of south with the land itself without picturing the people living there for the most part.  After receiving his BFA and MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, McWilliams moved to Georgia to teach at Georgia State University.  This is where he really found himself enthralled by the culture and history of the American South.  For some, it might be confusing as to why some northerner ended up so fascinated by the south, but for me I honestly really do get it.  I've always lived in the northern US but have family in the south who we visit each year.  Going from the same old same old of the north, to the entirely different culture and atmosphere of the south is super entertaining, and if it clicks with you the south will always have a place your heart.  It happened for McWilliams, and I can really feel it in his photos.
Of them, the photo that really resonates with me the most is the photo of the sprawling old tree in the middle of a long forgotten back country cemetery.  What I like the most is how it is a type of ouroboros, without using the classic example of the snake eating its own tale.  In McWilliams photo, the tree is growing from a place where the dead are laid to rest, making it into a symbol of life born from death, creation and destruction, and the balance of life.  The ouroboros is one of my favorite symbols, so seeing it indirectly in the photo makes it really stand out for me.
Another reason I like the photo so much is because my grandaunt and granduncle have a place just like this on their property in Georgia.  There's an old civil war era cemetery on their property my cousins and I would tell scary stories at after dark and run mortified back to the house after we'd all chicken out.  I think because of the predisposition of some place just like the one in the photo, it also gives off a bit of a haunting vibe for me.  However, I don't say that in a bad way.  If anything it's the opposite.  Eerie places like this don't particularly scare me, whereas they do intrigue me to go there and experience the unsettling atmosphere for myself.  Mostly I just want to climb the tree.  It looks so rich and full of life, yet dead and reminiscent of a skeleton.  The branches bob and weave through the air in such indecisive directions like the lost souls rising from the graves beneath it.  It's unsettling aura draws me towards it, and now I feel like I've got to just go wander in the woods at night.  Neat photo overall.