A violent storm, no stranger to the Alaskan coast, had ripped this tree from the earth. It probably drifted with the tides, and wound up tossed upon this rocky shore, its vast root system exposed and useless. I found a haunted beauty in its form, and when I made this image I saw it as a black and white photograph, which worked well for my intentions. I wanted this tree to retreat into the darkness of the living forest behind it, a reminder that all things that live also eventually die.