JON WRITES: "For my Critic's Choice I would like to choose Kurt Tong's Christmas Tree for the simple reason that like much of Kurt's work it makes me feel simultaneously uplifted and yet forlorn. Kurt has in my opinion a real complexity to his photography but disguises it in simplicity.
I first came across Kurt thanks to Lauren Heinz who I work with at Foto8, she had put his People's Park images online for a Story of the Week on Foto8. Like his images, Kurt strikes me as a quiet person with a great deal of empathy and patience for people and place - well I suppose that's what made him a great nurse. The "Christmas Tree" in this image is not shouting out at me to notice it, the fairy lights on the roof and the chimney are making most of the noise.
"Kurt strikes me as a quiet person with a great deal of empathy and patience for people and place"
But Kurt is not ignoring the tree, or making fun of its bareness, to me at least he's noticing its indomitable spirit and acknowledging its special position in prime view of the window, kept company by a small bed of purple flowers at its base. It's a Kurt Tong image all over, harking to better times when the lights were on and the branches full and green but even now Kurt makes me feel joy in this genuine admiration for a tree."
Jon Levy
