Deep Roots, Modern Landscape

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A unique photography exhibition opened at Ramat Hanadiv in the leadup to the conference on heritage trees that took place in early June. The ancient trees that were photographed using 19th-century cameras and methods from the early days of the photography era reflect the past in the present landscape and connect us to roots, time and place

Dror Ma’ayan

You know those old films with a scene where everyone gets ready for a family photo and submits to the photographer wielding a giant camera, on a tripod, with a bellows and a hood for the head? Dror Ma’ayan, an artist photographer and expert on 150-year-old photography technologies still takes photographs this way.

Last month we held a conference on heritage trees. The conference focused on the connection between our rich past and the future we desire – protection of our agricultural heritage and our country’s biological and genetic diversity. But first, we’ll tell you all about the extraordinary photography exhibition that opened in honour of the conference – ‘The Roots of Time’, presenting photographs of ancient trees in Israel that were taken using equipment and techniques from the 19^th century. These photographs have no filters; they are real photographs taken on metal and glass using the collodion wet plate technology that was invented in 1851.

When Ma’ayan takes photographs in this way he must build a dark-tent surface, because this is a wet technology that requires the preparation of a plate, instead of developing photographs in ten minutes, just like the travelling photographers of the 19^th century.

An extraordinary photography exhibition ‘The Roots of Time’ opened at Ramat Hanadiv, presenting photographs of ancient trees in Israel that were taken using equipment and techniques from the 19^th century

Ma’ayan was exposed to ancient photography methods about a decade ago and was taken in by the magic of both the methods and the rare, original photographic equipment that produces a unique kind of photograph. He specialised in this field for three years in the USA, and now he is the owner of the only studio in Israel for 19^th-century photography. He has about 35 old cameras, but insists that he is not a collector: ‘They all work and I use all of them to take photographs’. Ma’ayan does individual and family portraits to order and conducts photography demonstrations using ancient technologies, and his photographs accompany historical and archaeological research.

The Roots of Time

The exhibition, ‘The Roots of Time’, presents 13 copies of photographs of grapevines, olive trees, almond trees and date palms, taken by Ma’ayan using the techniques described above. The photographs accompany research on heritage trees and traditional orchard-growing, led by Prof. Guy Bar-Oz from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, which documents ancient trees that survived here in local habitats and were nurtured in traditional orchards for generations.

The photographs accompany research on heritage trees and traditional orchard-growing, which documents ancient trees that survived here in local habitats and were nurtured in traditional orchards for generations.

תמונות של עצים עתיקים תלויות במרכז המבקרים

‘The photographs can be compared to old photographs of those same areas taken by travelers, photographers and researchers who wandered here in the 19^th century’, says Ma’ayan, explaining that this enables us to determine how time has affected their survival. Ma’ayan emphasizes, ‘An ancient orchard that has survived for years looks completely modern through digital photography, while through the old technology it acquires the visual patina of something old and rare, creating a good basis for comparison’. ‘There are trees that sprouted 100–200 years ago and some of them are now on the brink of extinction’, he adds.

The connection between people and environment, ancient trees and photography from the past is also related to the physical dimensions of things: ‘We are first and foremost flesh and blood with material physiology and are surrounded by nature and matter, just like trees, and just like ancient photography that captures a picture using real materials’, Ma’ayan explains, regarding the uniqueness of the photographs.

There are trees that sprouted 100–200 years ago and some of them are now on the brink of extinction

a conference on heritage trees

Ancient Agricultural Landscapes and Childhood Memories

Heritage varieties currently occupy researchers and experts on the conservation of landscapes and fruit trees and the restoration of ancient agricultural landscapes (groves, field crops, terraces). Heritage trees are trees of local varieties that played a major role in traditional agriculture, landscapes and nutrition hundreds of years ago. Tens to hundreds of different varieties underwent adaptation to the local field and climate conditions, and gave (and still give) particularly tasty fruit, but with the transition to modern agriculture and uniform, commercial crops many of them disappeared from the landscape. These trees tell us about the agricultural heritage and the culture of food and economy, and remind us how much our lifestyle depends on them. The fruit trees that thrived in the past in the desert may also be the key to our future nutrition security, particularly in the face of climate change.

Beyond their genome, fruit trees also hold sweet memories that connect us to place and provide a link to the past and to nostalgia. Take for example, the memory of a mulberry tree, whose red fruit, dripping with juice we enjoyed in our childhood, or the experience of eating the fruit of the Syrian fig tree, a seasonal culture that is a component of the individual and collective memory.

These trees tell us about the agricultural heritage and the culture of food and economy, and remind us how much our lifestyle depends on them

traditional pomegranate

Grapes and Almonds from the Orchard

At Ramat Hanadiv we are working to return heritage varieties to the Nature Park, out of a desire to tell the story of this place through the ages. On the slopes of the Kebara Stream (the green trail) the ancient olive terraces have been revived, the ancient carob tree at Horvat ‘Aqav (the red trail) receives supportive treatment, and the ancient orchard at Ein Zur (the blue trail) is thriving once again. Last year, we planted new grapevines and citrus trees there, and on Tu B’shevat this year we planted traditional varieties of almond, pomegranate, fig and mulberry characteristic of the ancient orchards. Today we are making scientific efforts alongside citizen initiatives to map ancient orchards and heritage trees. The conference we held last month gave them centre stage in the hope of introducing the broad professional community to the world of heritage trees and raising awareness of their genetic, ecological and historical importance.

The exhibition (that presents reproductions of the original photographs) is on display in the halls of the Education Division, opposite the InfoShop at Ramat Hanadiv and is open free of charge. It will be on display for a year.

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