Rooted
Some wild places have the power to captivate all who visit them, not because they have unrivalled views or superior scenery but because they instil in the visitor a sense of wonder and awe. Back in 2018 I discovered one such place.
At the time I was reading a book by Sara Maitland called Gossip from the Forest. It featured a chapter on a local woodland that I had never explored but felt compelled to visit.
First impressions are always important and they are usually what guide me as a photographer. As soon as I stepped off the road and into the cool depths of the wood I knew I wanted to produce a body of work that captured the essence of this amazing location.
The wood is a special place that has been well documented. It is an ancient landscape of fairytale qualities where vast oaks, some over 500 years old, stand side by side with some of the tallest holly trees in Britain. Reminiscent of childhood stories, the area is a chaotic tangle of twisted branches where light is sparse and evergreen curtains of holly hang in the air. Dead and decaying boughs and trunks litter the floor and even on the brightest of days the air is cool and the forest dark. The treescape has a Tolkienesque quality revealed in the gnarly shapes of the oaks, the characters imagined in the deadwood and the symbiosis of its compound trees, formed as different species grow on top of one another.
As someone who had never attempted woodland photography before the ancient forest presented some major challenges, the most difficult being the chaotic nature of the habitat. When I entered the wood for the first time I was confronted by a mass of trees and foliage that felt almost impenetrable. Everywhere I looked the scene was busy and chaotic.
I began by getting to know the wood, visiting with my camera but focusing very much on connecting with the environment and observing the wildlife in its natural habitat. The more I explored the more I felt I understood the landscape and the trees that surrounded me.
I began taking photos in the autumn and deliberately decided to shoot on rainy days when the moisture in the air acted as a filter, simplifying the background but at the same time saturating the colours of the vegetation.
It took me two years to build a collection of images taken through all 4 seasons that I felt I could turn into a book. However I didn’t want to produce something that told a chronological tale, instead I chose to tell a story of connection between two tree species (holly and oak) and also between man and the natural world.
Rooted was published as a book in 2022. I also used six of the images for a panel for the RHS Portfolio Competition. Titled the Enchanted forest this panel won me a silver-gilt medal in the 2021 competition.
