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Rob McDonald

@gourdtree

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Teacher, writer, artist, frequently frustrated idealist.

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Tabby ruins (c. 1793)
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#holgaweek #holga #southcarolina #lowcountry #stoneybaynard #ruins taken in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina by @gourdtree

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15 days ago

Late for @worldcyanotypeday, but I wanted to share these two images from my portfolio called CLEAR CUT, a visual lament over the timber industry's wrecking of Southern woodlands.

They appear in UNDERSTORY, an anthology just published by @loblolly_press. I ordered a couple of extra copies, plus new titles by press founder @andrewmack_poetry and the volume's editor, Kristin Entler @findmycure. I also picked up a copy of the handsome Loblolly Press canvas tote, which expect to be using it a lot!

Look at the bounty. (And get yours.)
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#cyanotype
#holga #southernlandscape #filmphotography #clearcut taken in Lexington, Virginia by @gourdtree

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19 days ago

A few favorites of Rowan Oak, from my series NATIVE GROUND, to celebrate the 129th birthday of William Faulkner.
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#faulkner #rowanoak #southernplaces #mississippi #nativeground #filmphotography #holga @anzenbergergallery by @gourdtree

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21 days ago

I am so happy to add this exquisite handmade book by @lsworthy and @kyleworthy to my collection. The concept, construction, attention to detail are more beautiful than words or these pictures can convey. I’m getting more selective about what I add to my overflowing photobook shelves, but this was a must-have.

Take a look at more of Kyle and Leah’s collaborations at @whitepeachpress. Can’t wait to see what they come up with next! by @gourdtree

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a month ago

Mary Oliver:

There is a tree here so beautiful it even has a name. Every morning, when it is still dark, I stand under its branches. They flow from the thick and silent trunk. One can’t begin to imagine their weight. Year after year they reach, they send out smaller and smaller branches, and bunches of flat green leaves, to touch the light.

Of course this has consequences. Every year the oak tree fills with fruit. Just now, as it is September, the acorns are starting to fall.

I don’t know if I will ever write another poem. I don’t know if I will live for a long time yet, or even a little while.

But I am going to spend my life wisely. I’m going to be happy, and frivolous, and useful. Every morning, in the dark, I gather a few acorns, and imagine inside of them, the pale oak trees. In the spring, when I go away, I’ll take some of them with me, to my own country, which is a land of sun and restless ocean and moist woods. And I’ll dig down, I’ll hide each acorn in a cool place in the black earth.

To rise like a slow and beautiful poem. To live a long time.

“Fletcher Oak” from “WHITE PINE: Poems and Prose Poems” by Mary Oliver.
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#holga #filmphotography #treesarebeautiful #maryoliver #sweetbriar taken in Lexington Historic District by @gourdtree

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a month ago

I’m excited to share that Rob McDonald is a contributing author to On Nochaway!

I first met Rob when we were both featured in Southern Cultures’ Snapshot: Climate, and I’m delighted to say that he has since become a dear friend. I have been most grateful not only for his generous words, but for all his guidance on this project and beyond.

Rob’s discernment and attention to the things that matter come through equally in his photography and writing. His work is marked by grounded observation coupled with a remarkable sensitivity and affinity for his subjects.

He also has an interest in the places that shape us, evident in much of what he does, such as Poplar Forest, a study of the retreat home of Thomas Jefferson. If you don’t already know his work, please check it out!

Rob McDonald is a professor of English and Fine Arts and Associate Dean of the Faculty at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. He received a Professional Fellowship (Photography) from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in 2019-2020 and was a resident fellow in the Visual Arts at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in 2013.

@gourdtree @ugapress

#longleaf #longleafpines #contributingauthor #robmcdonald taken in Baker County by @gourdtree

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a month ago

Late Friday, a severe wind and rain storm tore through Lexington. One of its casualties was a massive White Oak in Oak Grove Cemetery (formerly Stonewall Jackson Cemetery) on South Main Street. The first burial here was in 1792.

I have loved and been in awe of that tree since moving to town in 1992. This morning, in the drizzling rain, I took my Holga to make some pictures of the aftermath.

As I was walking around (in complete disbelief), I happened to meet the cemetery superintendent. He was surveying the damage to the tree, gravestones, and surrounding landscape.

He told me an arborist had certified earlier this year that the tree was 385 years old.

His son was with him, picking up acorns to plant. He gave me a lesson: drop the acorns in a cup of water. Those that sink are good to plant. The ones that float are best left for the squirrels and deer.

As I was getting ready to leave, I picked up a dozen or so of my own. All but two passed the float test, so come spring, I should have a few to sprout and share.
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#lexingtonva #rockbridgecounty #shenandoahvalley #virginiahistory #historiclexington
#holga #holga120 #filmphotography #mediumformat #120film #toycamera #treesarebeautiful #whiteoak #ancienttrees #historiccemetery #graveyardphotography taken in Lexington Historic District by @gourdtree

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a month ago

Here's the original 2007 photograph, “Outskirts, Somewhere in North Carolina,” beautifully adapted by @loblolly_press for the cover of UNDERSTORY: An Anthology from the American South (Vol. 2).

I rediscovered this negative while sifting through archives for a new project I’m contemplating for 2027.

If you’re not familiar, do take a look at the great stuff on the @loblolly_press website--and throw some support their way by pre-ordering UNDERSTORY.

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#Understory #Birdhouses #NorthCarolina #SouthernLiterature #FilmPhotography #Holga by @gourdtree

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2 months ago

For our Fall exhibition opening on November 6, we have shortlisted seven portfolios. We are now in the final review stage with @carolynmendelsohn_. We can’t wait to bring you the results!

Enjoy the shortlisted works by:
Christer Björkman @christerbphoto
Epiphany Knedler @epiphanysk
Rob McDonald @gourdtree
Roberto Solomita @roberto_solomita
Zoe Dixon @zoedixonphoto
Antonio Genovese @antoniogenovese67
Alpha Zhang deepskyworld.com by @gourdtree

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2 months ago

UNDERSTORY: An Anthology from the American South (Vol. 2) -- coming to you in September. Cover design by Grace Ezra. Photography by Rob McDonald. Edited by Kristin Entler. Contributions from 50+ Southern Creators representing 13 Southern States.

We can't wait to share our vision of a South not typically seen 🩷💛. Pre-orders are now open at loblollypress.com/understory2 by @gourdtree

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2 months ago

Outstanding mail day. I have been excited about this @spencerkmbrown since @loblollypress announced it.

Opening the package to find a hand-typed and signed poem at the front of such a finely produced hardcover was way beyond expectations. What a classic and affirming touch in these strange times of, well, you know. (I had an immediate flashback to the days in the 1980s when department chair Don Johnson would give every @ETSU English MA student an original printed and signed poem for Christmas.)

This, my friends, is the way to launch a book. Get yours. by @gourdtree

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2 months ago

Three Corks, Buck Swamp, Little Pee Dee River, Dillon County, SC, 2002

Organizing old negatives while hiding from the suffocating heat outside. Here’s one I thought I had lost.

That was another hot day. I was trying to find my way down to a fishing spot I remembered from youth when I noticed these corks, hanging like red lights above the black water of Buck Swamp. I guarantee I lost a few of my own there too, once upon a time. taken in Floydale, South Carolina by @gourdtree

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3 months ago