A Note from the Artist...

When I was thinking on the ideas of photographing community, the ideas I had couldn’t come off due to social distancing still in place. So then I turned back to nature to come up with an image that reflected community. This place immediately came to mind.

 

Taken within the Point Nepean National Park, it is a beautiful spot. As a photographer, I do love a good tree tunnel. As I stood in that tunnel created by nature, before too many people were up and about, it was quiet and the light shining through the end of the tunnel was beautiful.

You could feel God in that moment and it reminded me that He is anywhere we are. Whatever communities we are in, be it friends and family, work, church or our local residential community, He is by our side.

Reflecting on this image, I love the way that the trees come together on each side to form a more or less continuous canopy overhead, giving the effect of a tunnel. That each tree needs to have roots deep enough in the soil that when the wind and rains come, out there near the point, they will not topple over.

 

It symbolises a form of shelter and protection, that as the trees grow taller and their roots grow deeper, once they form together and entwine they become more resilient. They act as a protective cover to anything that is underneath.

Added to that, at the end of the tunnel, is the warm light, not only shining but bursting through the trees back towards the path.

Is that not what a sense of community is? A bringing together of many different people and joining them in a way that binds them together. As a result, it gives them strength and stability to grow deeper. Within that protection, the light of God’s love, shining brightly down, over and through us ( or people within the community).

All of us face challenges in our journey. Jesus said in Matthew 7:24, that the rains will fall, the rivers will rise and the winds will blow. When it does we need to be assured that our roots are deep in God. That the communities we are a part of, stand strong and we can be there as a form of support, love and protection for others just as God has done for us.

PHILIPPIANS 1:27
As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel. 

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About the Artwork...

Photography

NIKON D800
Nikon 70-200mm f/4 G
ISO 400
1/100 sec
f/4.5

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About the Artist...

Michelle Townend

Camberwell, Melbourne, VIC