TITLE: Trees From Above

They’ve been revered and reviled, worshiped and ravaged. They’ve been cherished throughout the ages, subjects of great works of art and literature. And they’ve been cut, slashed and burned by the millions. They are pounded, carved, ground up and mashed into pulp to make paper, sliced and bonded for plywood. They provide shelter, warmth, food and oxygen. They tame floods and purify the air. We are inspired by their resilience and moved by their beauty.
I’ve been obsessed with trees since I first picked up a camera in the early 1970’s. I’ve photographed towering redwoods, ancient bristlecones, ghostly junipers and brilliant, white-barked, paper birches. And I've photographed the parade of colors that we Northeasterners are privileged to witness each Fall.
Photographers have been capturing trees since the advent of photography, but, until recently, we’ve been limited to one point of view- the view from below. It’s the view we’re accustomed to. It’s the view I’ve always tried to portray.
That was until I learned to fly.
I purchased my first drone a few months before writing this. Quickly addicted, I set out to capture something I’d imagined but never had the proper tool for: images of trees from an unfamiliar viewpoint, from directly overhead. The results, from a drone’s-eye view, were more interesting than expected.
Using snow as a white backdrop, the trees have been removed from their surroundings and portrayed as if photographed in a giant studio. The images reveal familiar characteristics that we are used to seeing and admiring: grace, power, femininity, masculinity, symmetry and balance- but from an entirely new perspective. Additionally, some of the images bear a striking resemblance to the veins and arteries of the Human respiratory system, a fitting reminder of the importance of trees and their role as the “lungs of the Earth.”

AUTHOR: Dwight Hiscano (United States)

Widely published and collected, Dwight Hiscano has been shooting professionally for nearly forty years. His photographs have appeared in The New York Times, Outdoor Photographer, Nature’s Best, Black and White Magazine, Nature Conservancy Magazine, and Photographic Magazine. A recipient of Black and White Magazine’s Single Image Spotlight Award, Dwight was also a finalist in the 2018, 2020 and 2021 International Color Awards, and was twice nominated for the Black and White Spider Awards. His “Trees From Above” series received Honorable Mention in the 2021 Minimalist Photography Awards, a “Juror’s Top Five” award and an Honorable Mention in the International Photography Awards. He has sold thousands of prints through galleries and art dealers and his images have been featured in numerous group and solo exhibits including the Nature's Best exhibit at the Smithsonian, the National Geographic sponsored International Mountain Summit in Italy, and in the Capitol Rotunda. Dwight’s photographs are held in numerous collections both in the U.S. and abroad. Five former New Jersey governors have been presented with signed Hiscano prints in recognition for their efforts to preserve New Jersey's open space, along with the late congressman Peter Frelinghuysen, former congressman James Saxton, and former acting governor Donald DiFranscesco. Dwight’s photographs are also held in a number of prominent corporate collections, including those at AT&T, Atlanticare, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Merrill Lynch, Oppenheimer, and Pfizer. Dwight’s Black River print was featured in an exhibit at the Ross Art Museum, along with original works by Winslow Homer, Thomas Hart Benton, and John Marin.

A lifelong conservationist, Dwight has served on the boards of several conservation organizations in his home state of New Jersey. He has volunteered hundreds of hours and raised thousands of dollars for charities and conservation efforts. He founded and curated the Annual Highlands Juried Art Exhibit with the New Jersey Highlands Coalition. Now in its eighth year, the Exhibit has been hosted by the Smithsonian-affiliated Morris Museum in Morristown, NJ, the Atrium Gallery, also in Morristown, and Highlands Festival at Waterloo, NJ.