a plant within the agave plant family and is an evergreen shrub.
Those who have spent time in certain desert climates in the
Western United States and Mexico know about the Yucca plant.
While they are visually unobtrusive, and often growing around
other small shrubs and bushes, they have long, very rigid
needle-tips that are ridiculously sharp. Throughout
the years, they have always provided a wealth of jokes
(and pain) for myself and my friends. If there is a Yucca
anywhere in the close vicinity, it is inevitably
going to stab someone.
Never have I had any desire to spend much time around them
until recently. Once I resigned myself to the fact that I was
going to lose some blood that day, I put the 100mm macro
lens on my camera, on a mini-tripod, laid myself on the desert
floor, and got up close and personal with one. Within a single
Yucca plant, I found a surprising beauty. Within this hostile
and vicious product of survival-of-the-fittest plant-evolution
lies the most wonderful tiny little world, delicate and whimsical.
The second image shown here has been juried into, and will be on display at the 18th Annual Louisville Arts Association National Photography Show, of which I am also the co-chair for. Please join us for the opening reception of the show on Saturday June 27th, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, at the Louisville Art Association. More information can be found at http://www.louisvilleart.org .
07/04/09 Post Note:
The second photo on this post won 2nd Place in the in the Louisville Art Association- National Photography Show (Color: Still Life, Scenic, and Abstract Category) on June 27th, 2009.
