Burnt Tree

This small series of images is part of a larger body of work focusing on Whangarei Heads farmland, highlighting issues of land use and environmental value. These places are sight specific and are used as an analogy for the issues of land within New Zealand. By looking at the handling of our historical and current adaptation of the environment, we get an insight into society’s value systems of the time. Just as the clearing of land through scrub and bush fires would have been viewed as progress at the time of burning, it may be viewed differently now. First time burning can give the soil and initial fertility incease but repeated burning will kill the micro-organisms that keep the soil healthy. Stumps of burnt puri, manuka, pohutakawa, pine and macrocarpa are a common sight on many northland farms. These prints are Selenium and Gold toned which gives blue and reddy-purple hues to the black and white photos.