Survivors: Trees, 1998 - 2020

Between 1998 and 2004, Balog and his assistants crossed America to capture 92 specimens of 47 different species of trees. Most of the trees were designated as “champions”—the largest individuals of their species, according to a system of measurement promoted by the Washington, D.C.-based organization American Forests. Most individual trees in this series were rare survivors of the deforestation that followed in the wake of European colonization, agricultural expansion, and industrial settlement. Initially, Balog continued with the stylistic ideas of portraiture he had used in his work on endangered wildlife, winching up huge fabric backdrops behind the trees. As the project progressed, he eliminated the backdrops, moving to multi-frame treatments to capture the enormity of some of his subjects. Along with an athletic team of tree scientists, Balog developed an innovative—albeit hazardous—technique for climbing and rappelling down coast redwood and giant sequoia, photographing them in hundreds of sequential frames. Then, using the individual frames, constructing enormous mosaics.