Saint of Defiance

I've been procrastinating with putting my photos out, but guess this is the time.
Ever since I got my camera out for the first time a couple of years ago, I have been trying to capture this tree I found very special. I've had some ok attempts but nothing I would feel really happy about publishing. Finally I happened to be there on the right time and got pretty close with this one. Se here goes. The sun was just aligned to light the nails and the trunk, though it was very windy and the shadows from the clouds and the leaves would cover them a lot of the time. Also standing under this one when the wind was blowing was a little bit scary, but it has seen worse i'm sure. It was challenging but made it all the more special.

Saint of Defiance

A Pine tree grows tall near the edge of a small forest patch. It is much like the other pines, except
for the fact that there is about two-meter-tall section at the bottom, that is missing bark and looks quite dead. The healthy bark borders the area, thick like a giant snake wrapped around it. On closer look there are two rusty nails sticking out of the trunk, and a little bit higher up in the tree, far beyond human reach, there seems to be a band of iron wire hanging loosely around the tree. I imagine they were together part of some contraption that ended up causing the damage as the tree grew. I could not think of the purpose for them being there and it did make me quite angry. However, a more profound feeling rose from that; I was inspired by this tree, how it has survived and continues to grow side by side with rest of the pines, it seems like the definition of character and resilience. for me it brings up some complicated spiritual undertones. Coming from a cultural area that is prominently Christian, I can’t avoid associating the nails and the halo of wire with that tradition. Meanwhile, in the old times people here used to worship trees and with the Christianization of Europe, sacred groves were eradicated and replaced by churches. That was long ago. Now we have expressions where truths can live ambivalently, like: "For a Finn, the forest is the church".

Saint of Defiance
Mikko Lyytinen
2023