Entry Title: " les arbres d'hiver"
Name: Athena Carey, Switzerland
Category: Non-Professional, Trees


Entry Description: I find myself drawn to the silence and serenity of wide open, empty spaces. I was quite content this winter to be alone in foggy, snow covered landscapes with no sounds other than my own footsteps and nothing to disturb my thoughts, my visions.

As I looked around, enjoying the beauty of my solitude, I realized that I was in fact never alone in these places.  Scattered throughout these frigid landscapes I found exceptionally strong personalities - not in other people, but in trees.  Silent and strong in the hard winter cold, these leaders, troops, teachers, students, guardians, enemies, families and lovers showed me their power as well as their vulnerability.

I felt compelled to capture this beautiful other-reality to share visually my belief that we are truly never alone.

I feel as if I have been a photographer my whole life. My interest in photography was sparked at age nine, when my parents sent me abroad to visit my godparents. My mother gave me her small point & shoot camera to record my adventure. I was fascinated by that magical, little box with it’s single use flash bulbs, because with it, I could capture my visions. I fell deeply in love with photography that summer and it has been a part of me ever since. Since then, I have worked with many cameras, various photographic genres, and different medias. I have enjoyed it all - from creating artistic portraits, abstract macros and long exposure fantasies, to most recently, minimalist landscapes. Being able to create alternate realities through photography and being able to visually pull other people into those with me brings me great joy and satisfaction.