Naked in a Tree for Art and the Environment
SAN FRANCISCO - Professional photographer Jack Gescheidt started the “Tree Spirit Project” in 2003, shooting haunting pictures of naked people draped on majestic old growth trees. Recently he had a brainstorm: He proposed a joint project to an environmental group that was planning to stage a protest at Berkeley University in Hayward, California, to protect threatened ancient trees on campus grounds.
The result was a unique combination of art and eco-activism that drew the attention of the press around the world. Seventy-five nude persons, a mix of volunteer models and activists, participated, making it his biggest photo shoot ever, according to Gescheidt, whom we reached at his studio in San Francisco. Unlike Spencer Tunick, Gescheidt isn’t looking to cram hordes of nudes into his photos. While both shoot nudes, their central themes are completely different.
Gescheidt isn’t a nudist himself, but his models have to be nude, as his compositions focus on the natural (the trees), and his subjects are demonstrating their vulnerability through their nudity, he explained. “It just wouldn’t work if they wore clothes”, he emphasizes.
During the peaceful Berkeley protest, police warned him that he was risking arrest, but fortunately that didn’t materialize. The reason behind the protest was the University’s decision to cut down a stand of trees several hundred years old to make way for a new gymnasium. The institution claimed the old trees were unsafe and needed to be removed, which Gescheidt says is rather ironic as the seismically active Hayward Fault runs directly through the campus.
The shoot opened a completely new avenue for him, that of art as activism (or vice-versa), and is leading Gescheidt to consider repeating the experience elsewhere. The Spirit Tree Project contributes 25% of its after-tax profits to environmental groups, which is another reason why he persists in this endeavor. He said he doesn’t know when and where the next shoot will take place, but did promise to keep us posted!
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