The Dubuque Camera Club’s annual exhibition returns for an extended run, this year featuring images that explore the healing power of trees. Over twenty images of nature’s sacred residents provide guests a mental respite during their visit to DuMA.

Trees provide creative inspiration for photographers at all skill levels, making them a perfect theme for a club that encourages and supports both beginner and seasoned photographers alike. Besides being abundantly accessible, trees offer unlimited opportunities for photographers to capture their ever-changing beauty through any season or time of day.

Trees symbolize strength, endurance, and the cycle of life, and they can provide a space for contemplation and solace. In 2012, photographer Mark Hirsch from Platteville, Wisconsin, committed to photographing the same tree every day for a year, a process that proved to be transformative and healing in his book, That Tree. Eight years later, through the prolonged challenges of the pandemic, many people turned to nature for its therapeutic benefits. During the pandemic shutdowns, an extended commitment to a project such as Hirsch’s became a possibility and a welcome distraction for many. This select group of arboreal images by Camera Club members offers a space for contemplation in the Museum and a reminder of the beauty in our world.