For as long as I can remember, forests and wild places have held a special place in my being. While it is rare in the the British Isles to find land untouched by human activity, one can try to imagine what a pre-human landscape would have been like. It is equally enthralling to think of the activities of the earliest humans, and to imagine their relationship with the wildwood.
Today, our experience of the wild places is frequently quite sanitised; we stroll along gravelled tracks before returning to our cars and going off for a cream tea ... yet stray from the beaten track, follow a deer trail, and quite soon one can be far from the 21st century ... visit the forest in a storm when the trees are swaying like giant beasts trying to break free ... there are still so many ways to experience nature raw and wild if you so desire ....
Wild places are beautiful and peaceful escapes for us, yet with a little contemplation one can start to feel something approaching what our forebears may have felt - fear and fascination, joy and respect. You may start to feel the energies and the spirits, and slowly become aware of the magical and the practical elements of the wildwood .....
The galleries displayed here are part of an ongoing project exploring aspects of our relationship with the Forest, sometimes showing the beauty and peace to be found there, sometimes the fear and mystery, and sometimes the magic and spirt.
If these ideas strike a chord with you, please explore the galleries and revisit often as more pictures are uploaded ... and if you think you might like to become part of the project, please get in contact ... Kathryn Faerie did ... jerry@jerryfennerphotography.co.uk ....
I recently came across this piece, originally published in the Independent on Sunday, discussing some of these thoughts and ideas far more eloquently than I can possibly do - http://www.ruthpadel.com/pages/Into_Woods.htm
