The Emerald Necklace’s string of parks in Boston and
Brookline were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 1800’s and include
the Back Bay Fens, the Riverway, Olmsted Park, Jamaica Pond, the Arnold
Arboretum, and Franklin Park. In the spring of 2014 Gehring was asked by
the Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s Olmsted Tree Society to photograph the
Necklace’s Heritage Trees, some of the biggest and oldest tree specimens in the
parks (not including those in the Arboretum). These trees were identified
as part of the comprehensive Emerald Necklace Tree Inventory, Assessment and
Management Plan spearheaded by the Olmsted Tree Society in 2013. “I was very pleased to have gotten this
opportunity as I have focused my creative energies at the Arnold Arboretum for
so many years, and I was looking for an excuse to broaden my horizons,” said Gehring. “This project was a wonderful
chance to explore and photograph the rest of the Emerald Necklace.”
Gehring is the current
President of the Boston Camera Club. You can view his Emerald Necklace portfolio online at www.erikgehring.com/WebReady/Pages/EmNeckHome.html.
