About the photograph

The Christmas Tree is famous among visitors, so on my first trip to Hokkaido, in March 2018, travelling alone, I went to see it. The spot is busy with cars, taxis and a bus, and everyone picks their own place; I went off to the side, where fresh snow covered the hill. Of all the Christmas trees I have seen, this one looks most like the idea of one: not too big, not too small, standing alone in the field. For this frame I left the shutter open for a full minute, and the passing cloud became the soft streaks above it.

What it does for the room

The frame is tall, a 2:3 vertical, so it suits a narrow wall: beside a bed, above a dresser or console, at the end of a hallway. For a small wall or a shelf, 8×12 or 12×18. Above a bedside table or in a reading corner, 16×24. For a main wall in a living room or bedroom, 20×30 or 24×36. For a tall wall or a large open space, 40×60. The tones are mostly white snow and soft grey, with one dark tree at the centre, so it sits easily with light wood, linen and stone rather than looking cold or hard.

Real photograph

One exposure, made on location. No composites, no generated content. Tone and light are refined in editing, as with any fine-art print.

Where it fits

Bedrooms, living rooms, hallways, reading corners and quiet home offices, in Japandi, Scandinavian and minimalist rooms. As a gift, it suits someone who has stood on these hills in winter, or anyone who wants a calm wall; the story to tell when it is opened is one tree, one long exposure, Biei in March.

Feng Shui Application Info

In Chinese painting, an evergreen in snow stands for keeping one’s bearing in a hard season, one of the “Three Friends of Winter”. Here the lone spruce of Biei, Hokkaido, stands centred on a snow hill under a calm sky.
Placement in the tradition: a living room, study or entrance, on an east or south-east wall, the two directions of the wood element.
Kua number: in the Eight Mansions school the east and south-east walls belong to the East group, Kua 1, 3, 4 and 9. This pairing is read from the published direction tables; no text was written for this picture.
It is a real photograph for your wall, with no promise of luck or fortune.

On the wall, true to scale

Frames and mats shown for illustration only and are not included. Your print ships unframed.