The old natural forest seems to take pleasure in dispensing its radicalism, its anarchy, to the point of exuberance. In an old forest with a primary character, the improbable is the ordinary.

And sometimes happiness lies simply in taking the road to pay a visit to an old friend. In this case, it is a very old silver fir (Abies alba) that was encountered more than 10 years ago. It spent peaceful days at the edge of a mountain scree in an old natural forest in the northeast of France. In the forest, although the architecture of the trees is well defined for each species, each tree is unique, this one has a surprising personal characteristic: a large branch had started to grow downwards, creating a real secondary trunk. How many seasons has it endured? Difficult to say as a silver fir can reach 500 years.

I had the opportunity to photograph this “elephant tree” in different seasons and from different angles, and this one is probably one of my favorites with those foggy conditions that I always hope to bring a mysterious and captivating atmosphere to a forest scene.

Behind this image, it’s a story of presence, of perseverance, of mindfulness, and of quiet poetry emanating from a special place. Blending and immersing myself into these preserved and forgotten places is like a journey back in time, a return to a forgotten past along with a journey to an imaginary but nonetheless inexorable future, when the trees and the forest ecosystem, left to their own free evolution and in the long term which is theirs, have regained their rights over all the excesses and omnipresence of humanity.
This image may be taken as a valuable visual testimony of a truly untamed place unsullied by any anthropic consideration and human influence in the most beautiful aesthetic chaos that can be found.

I look forward to pay him a visit once again this autumn, each visit being the best excuse I found to explore the extraordinary environment in which my old friend evolves…

What are the TWO most impactful features that make your image a good photograph? Don’t be shy!

First, and this may seem obvious, but so essential, the subject. One of my favorite subjects, which I have specialized in over the years, is photography of ancient, natural, and primary forests. And this kind of scene is exactly what I am looking for. My goal is to explore and document them in order to bear witness to their specificity and the extraordinary aesthetic beauty that emerges from these precious, rare, and more than ever under pressured places.

This image is an emblematic preview of this.

Second, the atmosphere. The particularly rainy, humid and foggy conditions reinforce the impact of the scene to create an atmosphere filled with mystery. In photography, light and atmospheric conditions are everything.

If you could make this photo again, what would be the ONE thing you would like to do better or different?

This is a very good question because the very essence of photography is to freeze a unique moment by making clear decisions at a given time.

For this image in particular, I would probably not change anything because all the elements hoped for are present. But I have in mind a series on this tree, and it will be interesting to return under different conditions and seasons, hoping to get some refreshing new ideas to vary the angles and compositions. I dream in particular of capturing it under the snow, although this place is particularly difficult to access in the heart of winter without a long walk from the valley!

Frederic Demeuse shared this photograph with the FRAMES Facebook Group.

Photographer

Frederic Demeuse, Brussels, Belgium

WEBSITE
INSTAGRAM

Equipment and settings

Nikon D850 and 24-70mm f/2,8 (at 58mm)
RAW, ISO 80, f/11, 1.6sec, tripod, and mirror-locked.
Small adjustments using Adobe Lightroom.
No other manipulations.