East side middle tree 
East Side Middle Tree and Neighbor
Last spring along a field not too far from home, I discovered a tree that was once part of an old barbed wire fence. The discovery opened a new exploration in the woods along the edge of the field. The top photograph in today’s post shows the tree I first discovered. It gradually enclosed the wire as it grew, and later died. The second photograph shows this tree and its immediate neighbor along the old fence line. The second tree enclosed the wire entirely. It’s still growing.
My question for anyone is, if I had to choose one photograph to include in a collection, which would it be? Or should I include both as part of a narrative? Thoughts and comments are welcome.
I like them East side middle tree by itself. Powerful character in that tree.
I found the first photo, East Side Middle Tree, much more compelling. It works as a stand-alone piece. The second one could be interesting as part of a narrative including a number of images.
The first photograph is interesting because of its subject matter, it’s such an odd shaped tree And you can read a lot into it. The second is interesting because of its composition, three elements with negative space between. Although the tree shapes themselves in the second photograph or not as interesting as the first tree shape. But if I had to choose my vocals towards the tree portrait standalone.
Both suggest a painful tethering caused by the wire. I find the depth of field, out of focus tree of the second one mysterious and more suggestive of relationships than the first one with the easy central focus.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts. The tree by itself was my only image for quite a while. I took pictures of it, lost it, found it again and took more pictures of the same tree. I’ve taken so many pictures of the this tree that I’ve lost any sense of what it might look like on first glance. I’m leaning toward using both with the second picture a take off for the series of fence tress in my upcoming exhibit.
I think many images make a really interesting story. Perhaps some images presented from the perspective of the barbed wire. There are two stories here. The story of the trees enveloping the wire, and the story of the wire being eaten up by the trees. Where does the wire go?