The art of seeing

Benedict Brain explores a felled tree, a polluted river and the value of looking closer to home

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A tree near my home was cut down recently, and what remains is a heavy, uneven stump that is hard to ignore. It has become a small landmark on my walking loop around Kensington Meadows in Bath. After months of travelling on the high seas, photographing exotic environments, I found myself returning to this stump with a camera. It felt like a good way to reconnect with the place where I live.