This series of images depicts fantastic resemblances of wooden creatures, shaped by time and by nature into forms of animals known and unknown. They were all found in a special place, resting in tall grass under a mild afternoon sun. No photo-manipulation was made.
I have walked through many a forest but have only seldom found such wooden resemblances of fantastical zoomorphic representation, so to find them all gathered in one place, such as in a zoo or private nature reserve was a joyful surprise.
As you will see, they can have quite delicate details, diverse shapes and expressive features engraved in their woody flesh, by complex natural occurrences, over the course of time.
Some of the remains of the trees were burnt, perhaps by lightning or fire, some old, all were bleached on at least one side. Some held rocks in their trunks, between twisted limbs or set as mineral jewels into wooden casts.
Wood can be smooth as a sculpture or sharp as a knife, blunt, battered, poked and perforated, gnarled and twisted or hollowed out. It can take wondrous and unlikely shapes, and can even grow eyes and limbs.
I admit that the angles of the photographs favor this recognition and hide that side of the reality that would make them simply, pieces of wood, but the magic is there to be put forth, not to be put out...
I will not disclose the location of this place, could be anywhere. It may look like a worn down discarded hillside, but to me it is an expression of the intelligence of life, which weeds its way into form and transforms an empty shell into an object of meaning.
And if the place will one day vanish, as it surely will, what little I have done to capture it with the camera will be a document to stand against time.