Dead Trees Speak to Me 

Tabitha Barnard

Soft Cover Book
Fall 2024
1st Edition of 100
ISBN 979-8-9911520-6-8

Swiss Binding, Open-Spine
96 Pages
9 x 7 3/16” 

Standard Edition - Pre-order (November 2024)

Special Edition (Signed Book with an 8x10” Print)

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Dead Trees Speak to Me is a culmination of photographs spanning ten years. Tabitha was raised oldest of four sisters in a close-knit Maine family. Through theatrical and fantastical image-making she explores the self-created mythos of her siblings, whose childhood was steeped in fairy and folk tales. Set against the backdrop of rural New England, their own rituals and legends took shape as children, exploring the woods behind their home and swimming in quarries. Fort Baldwin was transformed into Rapunzel’s tower; an abandoned fishing shack–a witch’s hut. As adults, they revisit these locations from childhood to experience the same magic. This collection of images weaves a narrative of sisterhood, isolation, blood, and desire.

“In our childhood, my sisters and I loved folk and fairy tales. Our favorite ones were the ones that scared us. The ones that made the woods behind our home feel dangerous and exciting. Salem’s favorite was Baba Yaga—a witch whose house sat on chicken legs. Mine was Bluebeard, while Claudia and Grace preferred Heckety Peg.

In the forests of New England, we created our rituals, our mythos– ones completely insular to our quartet. Whether they were real or imagined didn’t matter. Folktales warned girls not to stray from the path, or obey their husbands. But in ours, we found freedom and power. My sisters became characters, never confined to just one role.”

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about the artist
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Tabitha Barnard (she/her) is a photographer who grew up as the oldest of four sisters in rural Maine. She works primarily in analog color photography, exploring themes of femininity, religion, and ritual. She received her Bachelor of Fine Art from the Maine College of Art in the Spring of 2016 and her Master's degree in Fine Art Photography from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in the Spring of 2021.

Tabitha currently lives and works in Portland, Maine, teaching at the Maine College of Art and the University of Southern Maine.






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special edition

(signed book and an 8x10” print)

---- limited edition of 5 for each print ----




coyote pelt

butterflies

coven



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Dead Trees Speak to Me
Tabitha Barnard

Fall 2024
1st Edition of 100
ISBN 979-8-9911520-6-8

Design by Jake Benzinger
Edit by Jake Benzinger and Tabitha Barnard
Illustrations by Abbie Cates and Anna Hughes









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