Photographing trees, woodland and forest...
“There are the woods, and the birds who make their nests in the branches. The beauty of the leaves and their history from season to season must be learned, and how, after they fall, they are turned to mould, which enriches the earth.”
From “The Wonder Book of Nature” 1931.
I've always been drawn to woodland; to the textures, light, stories, sounds, shapes and half-hidden wildlife that can be found amongst trees. I spend a lot of time exploring, photographing, watching, collecting ideas and making in woodland in the UK and also in Scandinavia. I love the history found in woodland - both the traces of human activity and of all the countless creatures who create a home in the woods.
Working as a Forest School leader means I spend a lot of time exploring woodland with groups of children and adults and I relish the discoveries and adventures this brings. The woods nurture and refresh, they feed us in many ways and we find so much about ourselves there.
There is so much to be discovered and explored in our woodland throughout the seasons. Much as it is always wonderful to visit new places, I'm really drawn to exploring patches of the same woodland again and again as the year turns. Amongst other places I spend a lot of time in ancient woodland along the Derwent Valley close to where I live in Derbyshire; an area rich in wildlife, in signs of human activity, in vast beech trees, twisted oaks and tiny woodland plants peeping through...
I learn so much from the woodland - as a child I was drawn to the names of plants, to the stories associated with them, to the patterns of teeny leaves and to the sounds of birdsong; all of this has continued into adulthood. Woodlands can provide a place of contemplation (with nature as well as with yourself), a place of awakening, of discovery and inspiration on so many levels.
“Trees had always had a strange fascination for Susan, ever since she had lain, an infant wrapped up in a shawl, in a clothes basket in the orchard, babbling to the apple trees and listening to their talk. They are queer, half human creatures, alive yet tied to the ground.”
Alison Uttley
“There are the woods, and the birds who make their nests in the branches. The beauty of the leaves and their history from season to season must be learned, and how, after they fall, they are turned to mould, which enriches the earth.”
From “The Wonder Book of Nature” 1931.
I've always been drawn to woodland; to the textures, light, stories, sounds, shapes and half-hidden wildlife that can be found amongst trees. I spend a lot of time exploring, photographing, watching, collecting ideas and making in woodland in the UK and also in Scandinavia. I love the history found in woodland - both the traces of human activity and of all the countless creatures who create a home in the woods.
Working as a Forest School leader means I spend a lot of time exploring woodland with groups of children and adults and I relish the discoveries and adventures this brings. The woods nurture and refresh, they feed us in many ways and we find so much about ourselves there.
There is so much to be discovered and explored in our woodland throughout the seasons. Much as it is always wonderful to visit new places, I'm really drawn to exploring patches of the same woodland again and again as the year turns. Amongst other places I spend a lot of time in ancient woodland along the Derwent Valley close to where I live in Derbyshire; an area rich in wildlife, in signs of human activity, in vast beech trees, twisted oaks and tiny woodland plants peeping through...
I learn so much from the woodland - as a child I was drawn to the names of plants, to the stories associated with them, to the patterns of teeny leaves and to the sounds of birdsong; all of this has continued into adulthood. Woodlands can provide a place of contemplation (with nature as well as with yourself), a place of awakening, of discovery and inspiration on so many levels.
“Trees had always had a strange fascination for Susan, ever since she had lain, an infant wrapped up in a shawl, in a clothes basket in the orchard, babbling to the apple trees and listening to their talk. They are queer, half human creatures, alive yet tied to the ground.”
Alison Uttley