Orinda Oak Trees Series by Jeff Heyman at de Young

    A series of photographs of Orinda oak trees by The Orinda News photographer Jeff Heyman is now on display at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Heyman’s nine-photograph series, “Oak Scars No. 3,” was selected by a jury to be part of this year’s de Young Open 2023, an exhibit showcasing Bay Area artists.
    The exhibit runs through Jan. 7, 2024.
    The black and white photographs consist of close-up images of oak trees in Orinda, mainly photographed on La Cuesta and Kite Hill roads during Heyman’s dog walks with his rescue pup, Natalie.
    The series is presented together in a 20” by 20” print, which captures the unique scars left on the old growth oak trees from decades of limb cutting.
    “These images are a different view of something most of us in Orinda see every day – oak trees,” said Heyman. “The beauty of photography is that it allows us to see the commonplace in an entirely new way. Plus, Natalie enjoyed the walks through Orinda’s beautiful strands of oaks as I picked out trees to photograph.”
    First taking photography classes at San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, Heyman went on to earn a degree from San Francisco State University in fine art photography. Along the way he learned Ansel Adams’s Zone System and met a number of noted photographers, including Ruth Bernhard, Jack Welpott and Don Worth.
    Heyman visited the de Young Museum frequently with his parents while growing up in San Francisco and he knows they would be proud of his accomplishment of having a series of his photographs on the museum’s walls.
    In addition to The Orinda News, Heyman’s photographs are regularly featured in other local publications and in local exhibits. View his work, including “Oak Scars No. 3,” at https://heymanfoto.smugmug.com.
    For more information about The de Young Open 2023, including exhibit hours, visit https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/de-young-open-2023.