Unfiltered Smoke

a photo series by Laurel Green

There is no denying that I am a lover of nature; an earth child. Born and raised in rural New Brunswick, the wooded Saint John River Valley is my home. It’s safe and familiar here and I find great comfort and meaning in the quiet, peaceful and ever-changing beauty of the East coast. It is this profound connection with my surroundings along with a deep-seated desire to capture nature’s ephemeral allure that drives me to photograph the places and things that speak to me in this world.

Recently, a week spent in British Columbia has shown me just how foreign one’s own country can be. When my toes broke the sands of Long Beach in Tofino and I gazed over the vast expanse of Pacific waters, it was as if I had touched down on a whole new planet. I felt like I was teetering on the edge of the earth as the salty waves swept me into an alternate dimension.

Never had I seen cedar trees stand so tall or creep and wind in entangled, mossy chaos as they do in the rain forest that hangs off the ledge of the Pacific Rim. Nor have I seen anything like the enchanting and alien sea matter that is dredged up from the ocean floor and discarded by the waves on the beach in exotic abstractness. There were snow capped mountains in the distance and the smell of the ocean invaded my nostrils as its sound crashed in my ears. I could taste salt on my lips. It was a vibrant and unfamiliar beauty that overwhelmed all of my senses and made my heart race.

The unusual colour cast in this series of photographs was created using a method called cross-processing, in which slide – or positive – film is developed using chemicals normally reserved for negative film. The process results in an unnatural palette – in this case warms tones such as red and orange – and exaggerated contrast between highlights and shadow.

click images to enlarge.