The Remarkable Trees of Paris and Versailles, France

In 2016 Louise was invited by the L’Association ARBRES (Arbres Remarquables: Bilan, Recherche, Etudes et Sauvegarde), the Association for Trees in France, to produce a body of work that represents the importance of ‘Les Arbres Remarquable de Paris’ (The Remarkable Trees of Paris). For 20 years the association ARBRES has travelled across France to research her legendary Trees. Their aim has been to raise awareness and publicise these Trees in order to protect them.

The Mairie de Paris categorises trees as ‘Remarkable Trees’ by their age, uniqueness, morphology, identity or social role.  These trees can be found on their database.

The project required permission to photograph at night in parks, sometimes after midnight, during the parks’ official public closing times.  

This led to interest from the Palace of Versailles and in 2017 Louise gained permission to photograph at night in the gardens of Marie Antoinette and within the Arboretum de Versailles-Chevreloup.

These events led to an invitation from the Museum National d’ Histoire Naturelle in France in 2018 to produce a solo exhibition of the resultant work . 

The exhibition, PORTRAITS D’ARBRES REMARQUABLES ILLUMINÉS or Portraits of Remarkable Trees, Illuminated honours some of the Remarkable Trees of France and includes images taken in the Jardin des Plants, the Jardin des Tuileries, the Park of Petit Trianon Versailles and the Arboretum Versailles-Chèvreloup.

Selected artworks from this collection were exhibited at Portraits of Extraordinary Trees, Illuminated, 2020, Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney (Calyx)) with Significant Trees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.