Photographing The Last Leaf

 

The vibrant colors of autumn are a great subject for photographers all over the northern hemisphere. We all have seen hundreds and hundreds of images of fall captured in almost every photography style you can imagine. From landscape to macro photographs the magical season is frozen in millions and millions of pictures every year. Unlike the pictures taken during the seasons, the orange and yellow leafs will fall and give way to the dark gray winter. That is the law of nature! 

I didn't know how fall can be breathtakingly beautiful before I moved to the United States. Yes, I have seen many pictures of fall when I was in Ethiopia but I had never imagined that dying leafs will have such beauty. Even though I was not aware of the esthetics of a falling leaf I knew the importance of the symbolism associated with it. Thanks to O Henry's American Classic short story "The  Last Leaf "I was able to envision how a simple phenomenon can be associated with life and death. In his story, O Henry showed us how humans need a purpose to live and die. In his short story, a young artist who had once had a dream of painting the bay of Naples lost her will to live.  Weakened by pneumonia she was giving up fighting to be healthy again, she needed a reason to go so she decided that when the last leaf from the Ivy Vine that she can see through her window falls she would let go and die.  She started to count down when the leafs were falling but for some reason, the last one didn't fall. 

Whenever I photograph in fall I remind myself how each leaf is important perhaps it holds a life and death card for someone like in O Henry's short story if not it had been one of the important pieces of life and will evolve to become a nutrient to the same three that it has fallen from. We all have a purpose in life knowing it is another thing but we are all important in this universe one way or another all we need is to try to understand the laws of nature. So I try to take a picture of a fallen leaf each fall as if it is The Last Leaf.  Whether it will become a masterpiece like O Hener's Short Story or the character's last work in his story(You have to read the story to know what I am talking about.) is another thing.