Susan Spiritus: "Theresa Tarara's photo, "Who I Am" was so simple; however with that being said, while simple, it really showed us how complex we all are! I loved it! Theresa, was this a photo that already existed in your portfolio, or did you set
out to create it once the submission title was posted? How did you come to make this association between you, your
heritage and the shadow?

Theresa Tarara: "I am so honored to have
'Who I am' chosen for Root as an Honorable Mention. I hope I answered
Susan's question satisfactorily, filtering down my many thoughts and inspirations to present the connection for Root.

This photo was taken at the same time that I was contemplating entering work for Root. My life the past three years has revolved around my 101 year old mother living in a nursing home with age related dementia.  I am losing my Mother yet gaining insight into living for myself.

Seeing her descend I felt as if I was going
there myself at times. Belongings she no longer needed I hung onto as if to change the course of her life. Alive in my heart are hereditary memories that will never fade and using those to propel me forward is one Root connection. There are many. After laying down to grieve for a time, my
photos dress my wounds so to heal.  My meditative walk one evening past a parking lot tree reminded me of how I look in
the mirror readying myself for the day, affirming the inner strength (as the shadow) that never leaves me."

Tarara goes on to talk about her image, 'Who I am': "The fluorescent light is not perfect nevertheless it cast a well defined even luminous shadow of a weathered, planted in concrete, displaced desert tree. A white wall the trees shadow fell upon camouflaged a refuse container.
Finding beauty in the unexpected, even pain, is another side of life I have
learned to embrace. This is another Root connection for me.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              I am a fine art photographer living in Scottsdale, Arizona.
 
I studied at The University of Arizona majoring in Studio Art with an emphasis in Photography and completed a BFA in Photography at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.
 
I use a Pentax K-S2 35mm digital camera and print images on archival museum quality inkjet papers. Other methods used are traditional darkroom film development and printing, 35mm film on an antique Argus “Brick” camera, a converted 110B Land camera with expired Polaroid instant film, and nineteenth century alternative processes such as tri-color gum bichromate, platinum, wet plate collodian, albumen, and collotype."

www.tararaimages.com
 

Susan Spiritus: "When one thinks of "Root", I immediately think of ones family tree! Marilyn Carren's photograph was the clear and simple illustration of a family
tree. I loved all of the postage stamps and complexity of the image which, again speaks to our heritage!"

Marilyn Carren: "I am consumed by my family; its history, personality, victories, and tragedies. I even live in the Rio Grande Valley, a border area in Texas where my family began over a century ago when my great grandmother met my great grandfather. Images of palm trees, irrigation canals, and Moorish architecture overlap with my memories, feelings, and recognitions of the people who raised, nourished, and defined me. A relentless and recurring theme in my work is the concept of family in the broadest yet most intimate sense.  To service this wide array of sensations, thoughts and ideas, I have been concentrating on portraiture for several years, expanding the definition of that genre in my own way as intelligently and honestly as I can. 

A recent death in my family has made me the beneficiary of a treasure trove of emotionally transcendent objects of all kinds, but the items I treasure the most are the documents, handwritten letters and personal objects once held dear by my family’s lineage. Using a technique that I call “Muscle Memory”, I have attempted to deconstruct and reconstruct these old negatives, photographs, personal papers and familiar objects to recreate a new narrative of my roots or family line.

Sometimes I generate these amalgams in the traditional darkroom using old negatives, discarded microfiche and digital negatives.  Other times I use a flatbed scanner and Photoshop to construct my re-imagined realities of family members both past and present. Whatever approach, technique or strategy I might use, the images I create all service my principal endeavor, to connect and explore the pantheon of feelings I have for not only my own family but my desire to build a bridge for my audience to their own passions and philosophies regarding their own roots."
 
Marilyn Carren is an interdisciplinary artist and an educator at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas, specializing in photographic arts.  Her research agenda includes studying contemporary art practices that utilize alternative photo processes.  Marilyn weaves analog, traditional, historical and digital photography skills throughout her work and teaches these practices to her students in a class titled “Photo as an Art Form.”  When using primarily digital mediums she frequently explores photography in the 4th dimension, virtual space, and is fascinated by the new technologies that are informing current photographic theory and practice.

www.marilyncarren.com

Susan Spiritus: "Sam Tucibat's photo of "Treehouse" kept me returning to it to examine it more closely and each time I
experienced it, I saw more in the image and found it to be another great image for the "Root" submissions. As the tree continues to grow and expand upwards.... its branches spread out with fragments of homes attached... again, for me,  quite reminiscent of our past.

What was Sam thinking of when 'creating' this photograph?"

Sam Tucibat: "I’m very glad that one of my creations earned favorable attention from Susan, and I’m happy to share some thoughts. 

Susan's reaction to the piece resonates with me. Additionally, while I was creating the image I was thinking about the
relationship between human-made artifacts like the pieces of buildings in the Treehouse image, and naturally-produced objects like the tree. I was ruminating on the idea that, since humans are part of nature, human-made artifacts emerge from--grow out of--the same nature-based,
primordial creative force that produces trees, giraffes, alluvial fans and all
manner of organic patterns we see in the world around us. It's interesting to me that human-made artifacts can exist either
harmoniously or disharmoniously with the natural environment from which they spring.
That’s it in nutshell."

Tucibat says of his work, "The natural beauty and rustic architecture along the Mississippi River in northwest Illinois provide the inspiration for my photographic compositions. Small river-communities such as Galena, Savanna, and Thomson serve as gateways to the surrounding old-growth forest, wildlife refuge, unglaciated terrain, backwaters and migratory bird routes. This is where the elements of these images are captured and combined to create a result that is visually unique, but embraces the spirit of the environment in which the original photographs were taken.
 
As a lifelong resident of northwest Illinois I have developed a deep appreciation for the unique beauty of this area’s natural environment. After studying photography as part of my Communication degree at Western Illinois University, capturing images of this area became a hobby, avocation and occupation. I learned photography in the traditional darkroom, but have developed a distinct affinity for digital processes and use them exclusively in my workflow.

Most of my images are an amalgam of several photographs that are processed and combined in the digital darkroom using Adobe PhotoShop. Individual elements in source images are isolated with selection tools and moved to their own layers in the destination image. Further editing and composition techniques are then employed to refine the overall image. Commonly-used processes included layer mode settings, layer styles, opacity settings and transform commands. Filters are used with extreme reserve.

Frequently, an image culminates as a simple collection of things that have recently entered my field of experience; the elements inhabit the same visual space because they rose into awareness and caught my photographic eye in temporal proximity to one another. Ultimately, the elements of an image I create are usually connected more by synchronicity and serendipity than by logic, reason, or linear thinking."

www.samzart.com