
Lonely Pine
I was searching for a Sentinel pine in Madrid to feel like Ansel Adams, and I found the so-called "Lonesome pine". A single pine, standing alone, the sole survivor of two massive fires (both provoked), one in the XIX century and the second during the Spanish Civil War. It is in fact the sentinel of the valley of Guadarrama and a painful reminder of human negative and irreversible impact in nature. It is around 30 meters tall, 6m of diameter and probably has 350 years, and you can find it in the hillside of La Peñota, at 1600m of hight.
The shot was taken with a 9 step ND filter because I wanted to catch as much time as possible, not only to because it would resemble and tell us a more accurate story of the San Roque Pine (aka lonesome pine); but also because I wanted to understand the sight of the tree. What would the pine see? How would it feel to see trough its eyes? Standing there, still, alone, while clouds, days and decades passed by.
It is a symbol of resilience and also a statement of the beauty in loneliness.
Author: Born in Madrid. Nomad, Alpinist by heart, Artist, Researcher and Professor.
Her body of work and research topic as well as her PhD and since her first exhibitions in 2006, have been the limits of the two-dimensional image and the study of the photographic language itself.
Her photographic work has been shown in several individual and collective international exhibitions ( Venice,Italy; Porto, Portugal; London, England; Paris, France;...). She has also travelled the world doing various editorials, and published in prestigious magazines focused primarily in environmental topics.
She has also received several grants for art residencies in France and Germany and has been awarded in international photography contests.
She is also a currently a professor in Photography and Film Studies (URJC), and lecturer of landscape photography at the prestigious international school EFTI in Madrid.