A Conversation With Song of Absolution

We are so fortunate to continue our collaboration with Joslyn Lawrence and Brian Kuhlmann on their project known as Song of Absolution. Together, they have been working on this unique project for over 17 years. This series of photographs, some of which you may have seen in the shop, has grown to become an important archive of disappearing landscapes and a preservation project through the lens of traditional portrait photography.

Earlier this year they set out to photograph a series of images representing trees in the Santa Barbara area. This very special series, available exclusively at domecíl, tells the story of our home through the trees that inhabit it. We caught up with Joslyn and Brian and asked them a few questions about the inspiration behind this series.

Santa Barbara is thought of by many to be a very special place, what in your eyes makes Santa Barbara so unique?

Joslyn Lawrence: The Chumash history of the original peoples of Santa Barbara traveling to and from the Channel Islands for ceremony feels very potent to me and every time I walk the beach between the mountains and the water I feel this.  The way their reverence for everything in nature weaves its way into the way that everyone who lives there really seems to fall in love with the land itself is infused in the energy of the city.  There is no place that has stones like the SB area either!  They hold centuries of stories of the land and the animals and you can really feel this emerge when you spend time in the mountains above the city.  There's a way that nature is bigger here, no matter how much we build and 'civilize' it. 

Brian Kuhlmann: For me, Santa Barbara’s uniqueness comes from its balance. The way nature, light, and space come together in a way that feels both expansive and intimate. The climate is near perfect, but it’s more than that. It’s the easy access to so many different landscapes: mountains, ocean, open spaces, and quiet trails, all within minutes of each other.

As a photographer, that kind of proximity to nature is everything. I can leave the studio and be in the foothills within fifteen minutes, walking under old trees or watching fog roll in from the sea. The light here is different too. It’s soft, warm, and constantly shifting. It invites you to pay attention. To slow down and really see.

It fuels creativity. Santa Barbara encourages a kind of listening to the land, to yourself and that’s something rare and worth holding on to.

As locals, did anything about photographing in your own community surprise you? Were there any locations or elements you saw in a new light, or perhaps discovered for the first time?

Brian Kuhlmann: Yes, what surprised me most was how much there still is to see, even in places I thought I knew well. Santa Barbara’s beauty is everywhere, but it’s never static. The same spot shifts depending on the time of day, the season, or how the ocean reflects light into the hills, off the clouds, across the water, or diffused through a low sea layer.

I started noticing quiet changes too, how a tree I’d passed a hundred times would suddenly glow differently in morning fog or late-day sun. Everything here feels like it’s in a slow, constant state of blooming. Always alive, always becoming more.

Photographing locally reminded me that wonder isn’t something you have to travel to find. Sometimes it’s right outside your door. You just need to pay attention.

In your view, what role do trees play in shaping and supporting local communities? Are there any particular trees in Santa Barbara that hold special meaning or significance for you?

Joslyn Lawrence: When you start talking about trees, everyone seems to have a favorite tree they either grew up with or live near that has a reference to their lives, for example, the Monterey Pine in the center of the 101 that was a real icon of Santa Barbara. I can remember as a child and throughout my adult life driving up and down the coast - I always knew I was either leaving or entering Southern California and Santa Barbara when I saw that tree. I know it was the same for many people and its unique shape was beloved by all. It became a story of a shared experience when they cut it down and we are sad we didn't get to take a photograph of it before it was gone! 

To me, it also speaks to the way we always think we have more time with people or places and to not put things off, such as spending time with loved ones etc. There is an ancient Torrey Pine in Carpenteria that is just magnificent and I am always awed when I see it, and think about the history of the land that it holds. The ficus trees on Milpas are also stunning and their shape holds so much poetry and remind me of a community, as the roots are all connected underground and this is really what a community is all about.. we appear separate but in truth we are connected.

Brian Kuhlmann: Trees have a quiet but powerful role in shaping community, both physically and emotionally. They offer shelter, beauty, rhythm, and memory. In Santa Barbara, trees do more than line the streets, they help define them. City planning here often uses trees to give neighborhoods a distinct identity: Jacarandas that explode in violet bloom each spring, Ficus trees that anchor entire avenues with their massive roots and dense green canopies, palms that lead you to the coast, and oaks that give the foothills their timeless character. You can feel the shift from one part of town to the next just by looking up.

What amazes me most is the range of species that thrive here,  many of them rare or endemic to far-off places. The Dragon Tree, the Monkey Puzzle, the Coral Tree.  Trees you might expect to find in South America, the Canary Islands, or the Andes, and yet they’ve taken root here, side by side, like old friends from different continents.

One of my favorites is the Pink Flame tree, something I’ve never seen anywhere else and yet it grows just outside my front door. It blooms with delicate, blush-colored flowers that fall softly, almost like confetti, and make a quiet pop when they hit the ground. By the next day, they’re gone,  turned to dust. The tree also drops large, boat-shaped seed pods that are heavy, sculptural, and strange, like something ancient that’s drifted in from another time. It feels like a bit of wild poetry planted on a city sidewalk.

What advice would you offer to those hoping to connect more deeply with their local environment and explore the natural spaces in their own communities?

Joslyn Lawrence: One thing that always helps me tune in is to just sit in stillness and listen.  Put your back against a tree or sit on a stone and close your eyes and start to identify the wildlife, the wind and the way it moves in the tree's branches, giving them a voice.  When you sit long enough, you might start to hear messages from what you are making contact with. One thing we also do when we travel to photograph is to look for the brown signs that indicate parks, protected lands or special historical places.  It's always worth a turn off the road to see what kind of local history is to be found! 

Brian Kuhlmann: Start by stepping outside with intention. You don’t have to go far,  just go often. Santa Barbara is full of natural spaces that quietly invite you to pay attention: Lotusland, the Botanic Garden, the trails above the city, the bluffs at the Douglas Preserve, or the open wildness of More Mesa. Each one offers a different perspective on the land and a different pace.

Whether you’re hiking in the foothills, walking the shoreline at low tide, or simply sitting under a tree, the natural world here has a way of revealing itself if you slow down enough to notice. The biodiversity in this town is remarkable but it doesn’t shout. It rewards presence.

My advice is to wander. To listen. And to return again and again to the same places at different times of day, or in different seasons. That’s when a place really starts to speak.

The Santa Barbara Series as well as other works by Song of Absolution are available for purchase in the shop and on our website