Incredible photos! I never viewed an olive grove in bloom before. The shapes of the tree are unreal. What a great topic for such a superb photo essay. Byron's words were a fine touch. I will go through this one over and over again. What an honor and pleasure to get to see such art. Thank you.

Algis, I have never ever seen one before.. These were just wonderful and congrats on the EP tomorrow;
Rated with hugs

Wow, this is amazing! As gorgeous as this photo collection is, your imagination is what's most impressive! I can definitely see the tree faces- you have captured their souls on film, the third picture down particularly speaks to me! Loved this!

Just breathtaking! Some of these trunks (the second shot, for example) look like carved stone. All of them define gnarly. And hoary. And glorious. And, as you say, wise.

Beautiful Trees and wonderful post. I would love to use one of these for my book, The Green Line Redrawn!

Did I mention this is EP material for sure.

Magical, Algis! :) R

What personalities these trees have! The presentation was just right and I feel enriched this morning by the viewing. Thank you!!!

These are beautiful creatures. How cool that you made their portraits. I spent more than a year making several dozen images of an old copper beech tree. Sometimes drawing the bulging fleshiness of it made me blush.

Enchanting.

Words fail me. Fortunately they didn't fail Byron.

What beautiful photographs! I love the black "mat" around each one. It really sets them off. The poem was a perfect accompaniment!
R

These trees trump those apple throwing wussies in The Wizard of Oz!

Your photo essays are treasures, Algis, each and every one.

Only once have I seen an olive tree. It was in the south of France. Friends there pointed it out to me. And then we quickly moved on. I wish I had stopped to take more of it in. Thank you for sharing the beauty that you see.

Absolutely breathtaking photos. They look like they have lived so long each has it's own character, a lot like old people, sitting of a porch, swinging and remembering times that are long gone!

As Spud says, incredible pictures, lovely eyes, great imagination and most of all a heartful of love of whats around us. It took a lot of time to load though. Rated with admiration, the last one looks like a bird about to dive in :) to my eyes and it is all so beautiful - am so glad to e alive Algis so grateful I can see and proud to know you.

Dr. Spudman44, Oh! Dr Spudmann44, that is so kind of you. I still want to return and make more images of these trees. The first time I did this extensively was in the same place, The Peloponese. I spent two months wandering around the peninsula making these images. it was in the summer there and in the small villages I found marvelous trees and views. A couple times people came up to me and asked what on earth I was doing in these Olive Orchards? I would explain I was looking for faces...Then this lady gasped...Faces? what faces? There are no faces here. What are you really up to she asked. You see at the time there were a lot of strange fires and some very tragic ones too.

So I started carrying some images with me to show what I was looking for.They really saw what I saw and they liked my photography. Unfortunately, I gave all the film I shot 37 roles or so to the wrong developing company and they ruined all of the films by using weak chemicals . The negatives came up thin and practically unusable. I was so upset.




Linda Seccaspina, Thanks so much Linda. I hope these make an EP too.


Hayley Rose, Yes the third one down is a very handsome fellow. I think he has a mushtache. He has a big hat on too much like a Jesters.


AtHomePilgrim, Glad your out of breath. Thanks! It is very slow and time consuming. If you go into an orchard and walk for a few hours , upon coming back the sun has changed and everything is different. You could never hurry. I still want to go back and make more of these kind of images. I still feel there are some out there waiting for me and I for them.

tg within, Oh Yes lets use do this!

tg within, Oh i hope so so very much! I would try to get a grant to return and work on these images.

Theresa Rice, Your magical for saying that too. Thanks

zanelle, Oh nice comment and more. Thanks so much!

greenheron, Wow the Copper Beach tree.Will have to check that out. Thanks so much for this comment and sharing your art. Post one soon SVP.

Matt Paust, Oh now I am enchanted even more...Thanks so much!

Myriad, Oh that is just great M.


Susie Lindau, Yes I had to do this twice because I like them so much better this way too. Seem more like photographs with the border. I do not know why or how people liked borderless photographs?
!



Linnnn, Oh Linnn, That is so charming. Now I would love to actually photograph all the oldest apples trees in North America. I once as a boy wanted to be like Johnny Appleseed. Imagine that?


anna1liese, So glad you saw these then...Thanks !


scanner, Yes it really is fasinating. You know I love North Carolina. I had such a great 5 days in Charlotte. I love the huge trees, crawling ivies, small stream and rivers. I want to live there and just wonder how to do it. Thanks again, may I say.... Bro?

Rolling, Oh that is so very nice. I am glad to know you too. Yes that image does have a bird in it. Sometimes people see something totally different. Some are hard to see and some I have to find all over again.

You make me want to touch these beautiful faces and feel their life.
Your photography is so personal and deeply moving. I would love to have a slideshow of these works. The poetry is also divine.
rated with love

Hello Algis... I believe, indeed, you have been whispering with those trees.

Would that be the same "Byron Lemonhand" author of this text? Wonderful words these, to complement your captured images.

Here's a link with which to complement the both of you: Eugenio Montale poem "The Lemon Trees". (translated to English)

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16924

Stunning, gorgeous, sublime. Your camera captures the sculptural qualities so well it was effortless to meet up the poetry with the tree. Are you part Ent? Is there tree-hearder blood moving through your veins, from an ancestor long forgotten? Or, maybe, the trees just liked you, trusted you, and revealed themselves to you.

Algis, some days I think you must be a magic person, not entirely of this world. Your ability to see and capture is unsurpassed.

I love olive trees, though I've never seen them as old and wise as there.

Thank you, thank you.

Absolutley gorgeous. You show us such great beauty while teaching us what to look for in nature. The picture within the picture. Thank you

I am reminded by you of Tolkien: "Not all who wander are lost."

Your visions, Earth creations, manifested by photo for us; my spirit settles in with peace when I gaze at your chronicles, that another soul sees, hears, our Mother as you wander and listen and record...
thank you for this...

beautiful Algis

I knew it.. congrats on the ep

I love this Algis. You are brilliant!

What a wonderous site, all the ancient trees that have resided through the centuries...Good job!

Beautiful, beautiful! Thanks for a great post to start off my weekend!

I am overwhelmed!!!!

This is beautiful. The idea that there are faces in trees, and that they can speak to us, shows up even in Aesop, where the woodsman goes into the wood and asks the trees whether he can have a little piece for the handle of his ax and they agree because he's so polite in his request. And then he chops them all down and they scream that they have no one but themselves to blame. The moral: power in a pleasing form is no less brutal in its ends. I think lyrically this tradition of trees speaking reaches its height in Joyce, though, where he has a grove of ash trees (the same type as in Aesop) talk to each other and sing the chorus. Can't remember if that's in Ulyssess or Work in Progress, I get them mixed up. But it's wonderful.
Rated

Your photos are just so beautiful. It must seem surreal to be there in person. Thank you for posting this.

Stunning photos of an enchanted place, makes me long to bolt from my office cube and impulsively buy a ticket to Athens and track down this magical orchard.
*R*

talking trees! I love it

That last photo is maybe Poseidon thanking you for being a wonderful hots on earth before he sinks back into the sea. You captured brilliant, yellow, ascot-wearing olives and images of trees that would turn Van Gogh's head. It is too good when new and old hold hands between earth and sky.

um...that should read 'wonderful host'...

I hope you didn't rush when taking the pictures; it looks like some good country you traveled through and you managed to find plenty of unusual ones.

Good Job

Algis, you have captured your own 'Rorschach collection'.

- wonderful work! Kudos!

I want to curl up in this grove and meld with it all. Stunning and humbling.

Gorgeous! Ancient trees in artistic bloom!

Algis, I've never even seen an olive tree before. This piece has taken my breath away. You are clearly brilliant!

Lezlie

what stunning images. you're a wonderful photographer. thank you so much for sharing. really. I'm so glad I got over here to see them.

My sister and I played war in olive trees in our youth. None were like these. I feel like you have taken me to a magical place no one else ever sees. Magnificent...

I can't add to the praise above. I just want to be counted as agreeing with this beautiful exposition.

/R

RomanticPoetess, How I wish you could touch them the way you touched me here. Thanks!





Inverted Interrobang, Oh that was really good. Yes thats Byron and the lemon tree poem is priceless. Thanks again. Yes I was whispering. Your very perceptive.

Rei Momo, Yes yes and Yes. That was a great POV you had there. I think your onto something.Thanks


kh3333, Oh you really made my evening with that one. Thanks so very much for that!


trilogy, Yes the picture within the picture. You nailed it. Thanks so much!

I am reminded by you of Tolkien: "Not all who wander are lost."



Just Thinking... LOved your quote and every word you wrote. Thanks so much!

hyblaean- Julie, Thanks big time hJ

Linda Seccaspina, You know everything because you have the ouija board, i am sure of it.

Lilly's Praha, Oh thanks so much then. Love ya! Love everyone here too!


Gary Justis, Exactly right GJ. Thanks again and again!

Alysa Salzberg, Oh I am so glad and you in Paris with the new foliage. Throws some bread crumbs to a bird for me if you can. Or coissant crumbs to a little sparrow. Thanks again.

Elijah Rising, Nice like doing that to you ER!


This is beautiful. The idea that there are faces in trees, and that they can speak to us, shows up even in Aesop, where the woodsman goes into the wood and asks the trees whether he can have a little piece for the handle of his ax and they agree because he's so polite in his request. And then he chops them all down and they scream that they have no one but themselves to blame. The moral: power in a pleasing form is no less brutal in its ends. I think lyrically this tradition of trees speaking reaches its height in Joyce, though, where he has a grove of ash trees (the same type as in Aesop) talk to each other and sing the chorus. Can't remember if that's in Ulyssess or Work in Progress, I get them mixed up. But it's wonderful.
Rated

BOKO, Oh I am leaving all that because it is so great and furthers this to the highest levels thanks to you. Bravo BOKO...BOKO BOKO BOKO!

Megan McDonald, So pleased to satisfy. Thanks


Gratefuldan, Oh that is so nice really. Thanks

Poppi Iceland, Cheers PI thanks so much, glad to please you up there as well.

Enchanting! Greece is calling me.

"Every true artist is the salvation of every other. Only artists produce for each other a world that is fit to live in."
— D.H. Lawrence (Women in Love)
You did that here for everyone that cares - thank you.

Great. Thank you.
"Press FRed(tm) please send" ?

catch-22 You said some very fine things here. Yes I was wondering if that was Poseidon as well. The mention of Van Gogh is so right on as well.. Thanks again for this.


catch-22, I want to now. Thanks for pointing this out to me.


Good Job, Yes, I did rush a bit and I am sorry for that now. Thanks again and again.

zacherydtaylor, Thanks again for saying this.



Catherine Forsythe Yes, it is my spring collection for tshirts with trees of fancy.Thanks CF.


dirndl skirt, I did that a lot too. I would find a nice place and just lay there taking it all in. Thanks so much.

Lea Lane, Exactly and thanks so much.

Lezlie, Your so brilliant for saying that too.

L in the Southeast, Thanks for this I really appreciate it.


Foolish Monkey, I would feel foolish if you had not seen them. Cheers and thanks!

Lunchlady 2, Theyare like a magical place that no one see unless you whisper to them and then they come alive.



ASH ... Thanks so much and your very welcome too.

Suresh Emre, Oh that is so nice to hear. Thanks for sharing that.Your last post was really deep and consciousness expanding.


Anna T Browne, Oh so well stated and shared here. Thanks again.

Creekend_UK, Cheers and thanks for the comment.

Padraig Colman, Hello and Thanks for the comment . Hope your fine?

Your ability to perceive what others overlook and then poit it out with grace and subtlety never ceases to amaze. Congratulations on another 'tour de force'.

Wow!!! Lovely, breathtaking photos & words, Algis & Byron! (is this the Byron of Byron Lemon-Hand fame?) Many thanks for sharing this beauty!

amdad44, Your fine words always keep me in my place. thanks so much here. You know I want to tell you that these are just sketches of something yet to come. I really have not got all the images I image for this. I was also so restricted with no transportation. I had to walk to the other side of town and then way into the valleys to get these. That was about two miles each way. Such a frivolous thing this is but rewarding in another sense.
MAY 14, 2011 08:32 AM
Wow!!! Lovely, breathtaking photos & words, Algis & Byron! (is this the Byron of Byron Lemon-Hand fame?) Many thanks for sharing this beauty!

clay ball, Yes that is Byron glad you mentioned that lemon hand. I still get a chuckle out of it. Esp because when I found that lemon I had never even imagined something like this. There are even betters ones at Youtube .

When I saw this yesterday I immediately thought of Van Gogh's orchards. Awesome capturing!

I love how you're able to take us to places we might not otherwise experience and show us images we might not slow down enough to see. This one was a delightful feast in every way. Thanks.

I tried three different browsers but I never could see all of the pictures....I think it's time for a new computer....so I can't get the total effect. The partial effect is still stunning. I'm not writing poetry these days.....the spirit has fled...but your photography continues dazzle us. Good work.

had to dump everything to come back and give you the rating you deserve.

I enjoyed the walk through the olive grove. Thank you for the invitation. The photos are wonderful as are the words.

How timely to find this piece tonight. Especially since: For the past 3 days I've been cutting choking vines from three 100 y-o Live Oak Trees on my street in southeast Texas.

These trunks are amazing, Algis, which is an understatement. I, too see faces in the trunks, but more than that, in the bark. Sometimes there are delicate vignettes. .

Congratulations on the well-deserved EP. Thank you

Gorgeous again, Algis. I enjoyed the various found faces, but it's the colours that really stand out for me.

I am delighted this received an EP. Superb!

Harry's Ghost, I really like that. Thanks so much for saying it here.


Lisa Kern, I am so glad my feast for the eyes via these trees pleased you. Hopefully I will get the chance to do some more one day too! Thanks again.


sagemerlin, Wow a three browser post. I try to keep the jpg size down but I want the better quality hence their size. I am saddened to know your fountain of poetry has quieted down. I will always look forward to it flowing forth again with it's poetic wisdoms and insights for all of us to enjoy again. Thanks for dropping in !


sagemerlin, Your Good!

Angelkisses, Coming from you I am most pleased. Thanks!






Blue Roses, Yes exactly the subtilities of the bark show other things too. I would love to see the trees down there. May your summer be great. Thanks!

VariousArtists, Thanks so much and more...

scupper, Thanks again and then some.

Algis Kemezys

We have a lot of olive trees here in Phoenix, they are planted all over the city. The older ones really have a lot of character. Too bad people rarely make their own olives anymore. Those in Greece must have many stories to tell. I remember picking an olive off a branch from a grove in a long abandoned Spanish castle, probably had been there for 800 years, like cactuses, just timeless while humans came and went, their buildings crumbling back down again.

so beautifully done!bravo to you both!
r

also, would you be so kind as to alert pistachio he's invited to kim's for poker?
thanx

Very, very highly rated. You, sir, are an artist.

Oh, stunning as always. Your posts make me so very happy with the universe.

Can't believe I almost missed this gem, fantastic photos..loved all the faces and animals and creatures in the bark of these beautiful trees. I am in love with treees and these have won my heart too! Congrads on EP 2!!!

For the words and photos I don't know what to say, there is almost too much to see and feel here. Thank you.

Lovely. I had a chance to buy an olive tree this weekend, and I passed. Now I wish I'd purchased it. Or, no. Because I would have killed it before it reached the point of such beauty.

We have a lot of olive trees here in Phoenix, they are planted all over the city. The older ones really have a lot of character. Too bad people rarely make their own olives anymore. Those in Greece must have many stories to tell. I remember picking an olive off a branch from a grove in a long abandoned Spanish castle, probably had been there for 800 years, like cactuses, just timeless while humans came and went, their buildings crumbling back down again.

Oryoki Bowl, Wow take a photograph of one of the best and let me see it. Yes Olive Oil is great. I really appreciate those trees and want to work on more images of them. I think it would take 4 months to do that. Anyhow, thanks again for dropping by and more...

r, Love you and Thanks.




Cyril the Gnome, I a so very glad that you mentioned Pistachio. He is fine and here with me in Montreal. I still have one more episode of him in the camera where he goes to Bitez to find the treasure. I hope I can find the time to get at that footage and feel confident to recreate him yet again. I was goofier when I last did that and now being very sober I wonder if that charm and carefree notion is not there as much as I wish it was. Thanks again. Cheers!

nanatehay, OK you got me in the heart with that and I really appreciate it tremendously. best regards 4 ever.

Ann Nichols, Well the universe loves you for it and more. Thanks again.


cindy Prochnow, Thanks so very much. Glad you saw the whole variety of things there. You can still see others things too on certain days.

l'Heure Bleue, Yes just let them float in your consciousness. I am telling you though I still neeed to take a lot more. I still have not gotten what I have been imaging.Stay tuned because that is going to take awhile to finance.


Bellwether Vance, Thats Ok it was probably a GM plant. Olive trees stay relatively smooth for the first 10 years then they just get craggier and craggier. I still think though they are planting a different tree than what was originally here. Have a good one and Thanks!

Oryoki Bowl, Wow take a photograph of one of the best and let me see it. Yes Olive Oil is great. I really appreciate those trees and want to work on more images of them. I think it would take 4 months to do that. Anyhow, thanks again for dropping by and more...

r, Love you and Thanks.




Cyril the Gnome, I a so very glad that you mentioned Pistachio. He is fine and here with me in Montreal. I still have one more episode of him in the camera where he goes to Bitez to find the treasure. I hope I can find the time to get at that footage and feel confident to recreate him yet again. I was goofier when I last did that and now being very sober I wonder if that charm and carefree notion is not there as much as I wish it was. Thanks again. Cheers!

nanatehay, OK you got me in the heart with that and I really appreciate it tremendously. best regards 4 ever.

Ann Nichols, Well the universe loves you for it and more. Thanks again.


cindy Prochnow, Thanks so very much. Glad you saw the whole variety of things there. You can still see others things too on certain days.

l'Heure Bleue, Yes just let them float in your consciousness. I am telling you though I still neeed to take a lot more. I still have not gotten what I have been imaging.Stay tuned because that is going to take awhile to finance.


Bellwether Vance, Thats Ok it was probably a GM plant. Olive trees stay relatively smooth for the first 10 years then they just get craggier and craggier. I still think though they are planting a different tree than what was originally here. Have a good one and Thanks!

Wonderful images~ olive trees look as though they have survived great torture by determining to live.

s!

Indelible Ink, Oh I am so glad to have shown them to you then. Thanks s

MAY 17, 2011 12:12 AM
Wonderful images~ olive trees look as though they have survived great torture by determining to live.

Rodney Roe, Oh, I really like that statement.Thanks so much R.

Your photographic essays magically transport me along on your wonderful journeys. Thank you!