William Guion is a gifted photographer from California. He has photographed the landscape of the South for almost 30 years. Through photography, Guion explores the spirit of place, or the quiet presence revealed in the changing moods of light on the land. This can be seen clearly in his series of images of Southern live oak trees and in his explorations with oaks of California. Guion’s black-and-white photographs are highly detailed and are in large formats. He captures various species of the Southern and Western oaks and sensitively captures the trees’ essence and character. The images reveal the majestic as well as the mystical qualities of these elder trees of the American landscape. They also portray the oak trees elegantly.
Guion prefers to photograph in the diffuse light of early morning because it is soft, and also in late afternoon and on overcast or foggy days. The quality of light at these times allows his eyes to perceive textures and detail in the usually shadowed spaces beneath a canopy of leaves. Guion usually uses a 4 by 5-inch view camera because of the ability it offers to control the development of individual negatives and also because of the contemplative and slow process of seeing that it requires. By precise handling of black-and-white photographic materials, Guion is able to compress and expand the black-and-white tones emphasizing subtle emotional qualities of light and shadow. A sampling of this body of work is contained in two books, Heartwood, Further Meditations on Oaks and Heartwood, meditations on Southern oaks.
