Cypress, Pebble Beach 1932

Edward Weston captured this image of a cypress at Pebble Beach with his camera, an instrument of light. See how the weathered trunk dominates the scene. The cypress, an ancient symbol of mourning and immortality, has roots stretching back to classical antiquity. The Greeks and Romans associated it with death and the underworld, often planting it in cemeteries as a solemn emblem of remembrance. Yet, this tree, clinging to life amidst the harsh elements, embodies resilience. Think of the Entwined trees of Gustav Klimt, symbols of life and fertility, a kind of response to the morbid reading, of a twisted tree, in an erotic embrace. This photograph, charged with symbolism, touches on our primal understanding of life, death, and renewal—a cycle as old as time.