Untitled 1975

This gelatin silver print, captured by Roger Mertin, shows a landscape dominated by skeletal trees under a heavy, clouded sky. These bare trees, stark against the horizon, carry echoes of the "arbor philosophica" from alchemical traditions. Throughout history, the tree has symbolized the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. But here, stripped bare, they evoke a profound sense of melancholy. This motif appears across epochs, in Northern Renaissance paintings where barren trees symbolize spiritual desolation, and even in modern photography. Here it embodies a certain existential angst. Mertin engages with this visual language on a deeply subconscious level. This recurring symbol, etched into the collective memory of humankind, transcends time, and surfaces in new forms.