Much like the ancient trees that artist Beth Moon captured for her series “Portraits of Time,” the platinum/palladium photographic prints she makes for her exhibitions also last a lifetime. To make the prints, Moon starts with a concoction of platinum and palladium metals are mixed with iron oxide. The mixture is then hand-coated onto heavy watercolor paper and exposed to light. The metals are chemically embedded into the paper, which is why a platinum prints lasts so long. “I hope to speak about survival,” Moon says in her artist statement, “not only of man and nature but to photography’s survival as well.”

Equally as elegant, Moon’s documents of Earth’s oldest living trees, “Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time” (Abbeville) was released earlier this Fall. “Standing as the earth’s largest and oldest living monuments, I believe these symbolic trees will take on a greater significance, especially at a time when our focus is directed at finding better ways to live with the environment, celebrating the wonders of nature that have survived throughout the centuries.”