The story behind the photograph
A late November 2025 trip to Kochi, Japan, found us later going up country, hiking to eventually summit Mount Tsurugi. The remote area of Japan had some of the best culture and people one could imagine, and breathtaking beauty of the Japanese forest on the way to the summit”
There Is a Season · Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 · On the photograph
“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven”
In Tom Bartel's words
“A late November 2025 trip to Kochi, Japan, found us later going up country, hiking to eventually summit Mount Tsurugi.”
Read the story →
From the photograph Tsurugi Forest by Tom Bartel, Colorado · View the original →
Format
Crisp detail on archival fine-art paper, set behind glazing in a gallery frame.
Size
Holds a wall on its own, over a console or desk
33.5″ × 25.5″ on the wall, with the frame
Good detail. Made to be seen from a step or two back, as a piece this size usually is.
Frame: Black
- Printed to order and with you in about 5 to 10 business days.
- $33 shipping within the United States.
- Damaged in transit? We replace it free, within 30 days.
- Each piece is printed for you, so we can’t take back an undamaged one.
A broad, moss-flecked maple spreads its low horizontal limbs across a sloping woodland floor, its canopy turned full gold and amber at the height of autumn. Backlighting pours through the leaves so they read almost translucent, while slender younger trunks stand in shadow against the glow. Scattered sunlight reaches the understorey below, catching green ground cover and a litter of fallen leaves on the hillside.
Why these words
This is an unmistakably Japanese autumn woodland: yellow beech leaves, bare upper branches, brown litter on the grass, soft mist in the middle distance. The familiar line about seasons meets the image without leaning on it too hard.
The photograph that inspired this piece
It begins with an original photograph by Tom Bartel of a real place. This version was developed from that photograph in our studio, using digital and AI tools guided by the original’s own composition, and these words set over the finished picture. How these are made.
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