The Magic Ginkgo Branch

Lumen print from the Magic Branch
Collodio POP paper, 4x5

Recently, Charlotte was host city for the Society for Photographic Education -- SouthEast 2013 Conference. I was honored to be part of the conference, not only as a participant but as a presenter. I ran two workshops during the conference, covering my favorite topics: alternative processes. The attendees of my workshops made cyanotypes and lumen prints, even four life-size cyanotype murals and some extremely large (roll-format) lumen murals. It was amazing, awesome and great. That isn't what I want to tell everyone about.

No, instead I want to talk about things that happen because they do. During the conference, just before my first workshop, I was walking back from fetching some supplies in one building and taking them to the lawn where my workshop was going to be held. Mert Jones, the SPE volunteer photographer, was walking with me. We cut through behind a building and found a ginkgo branch laying on the ground. Not a little branch, a big one. A major limb, 3-4 feet long, with several sub-branches and dozens of leaves in perfect condition.

Not too strange, right? WRONG! There are no ginkgo trees in the area. None. Not in several blocks. And here was this perfect branch, laying right on the sidewalk I was taking to get to my workshop. It wasn't even right next to the road, it was a good 20-30 feet from the curb.

Lumen Print from the Magic Branch
Kentmere RC 5x7 paper

Most of the cyanotypes and lumen prints I do are photograms made with leaves, grass, etc. In case you don't know about ginkgos, they're a living fossil. They're the only tree of their type that exists anywhere in the world and nothing else looks anything like them. Their leaves are absolutely unique and gorgeous. And right one the day where I was going to do my first major conference presentation, standing up in front of other professionals and introducing them to my medium, an entire branch of this exotic species fell directly into my path.

Good things just happen. Not everything that the universe throws at you is going to be bad. Sometimes, when your day is already going well, when you're at the peak of your game, something will go right. Not wrong. The universe won't choose to remind you that you should be humble and thankful for whatever you can scrape together. Sometimes it fist-bumps you and says "Keep on keeping on, man."

I still have the Magic Ginkgo Branch. It's sitting in my lab right now, drying out. I've chosen a few dozen of the most interesting leaves that were in the best condition and I'm pressing them dry. After the rest of the branch dries out, I'm going to cut it up and make something out of it. Me and the Magic Ginkgo Branch are going to be friends, because it reminds me that the universe can be a pretty cool thing. Sometimes it can just do nice things for one, single person, without any reason. That's worth remembering.