Times beyond the tree is a short portfolio selection of my recent photographs, line drawings, texts and song lyrics.

Loneliness, solitude, emptiness.

Awareness, connections, excitement.

Beauty.

A tiptoed journey that turns dead-end glances to next door’s shadows

An awkward, onward struggle that can never be as expected

A couple lie in bed and listen to one another breathe

An old woman is reassured as a flag signals her death

Two strangers find out they have already met and spoken without words

And a windowsill sunset somehow connects it all together in perfect harmony

The title is a reference to Chris Marker’s photomontage La Jétée . A man travels back in time to save civilisation and find his former love. While in a park, the couple stare at a cut cross-section of a giant sequoia tree that is marked with historical dates. The man points somewhere beyond the tree and says “This is where I come from”.

• Preview a low quality selection of the book directly here

Onward Upward Struggle by David Shanks

• And here are some of the drawings on Flickr for a more considered look.

• I will also be having the photo below published in the Swedish magazine Utblick in conjunction with an article on the Troubles in Northern Ireland.