DiversiTree

In lockdown my interest in the life cycles and lives of trees evolved into a passion for documenting them in all their states of seasonal being. Mesmerised, I photographed enormous and sometimes ancient trees where the central wooden core had become a visionary window from which to look through to the other side. How do these heavily canopied trees remain rooted in the ground with little trunk support in between the top knot and root system?

In the woodlands and between clutches of trees in urban or rural settings, I notice that the branches of some trees lean in towards one another. They appeared to form part of interlinked and interleaved canopies connected by long winding root-like tendrils. These strands lock tightly around host forestation. providing a climbing frame to support the diversity of plant life which attaches itself to the substructure. Root like extensions wind, wrap and weave themselves in intricate lattice patterns as part of a botanic tapestry of fungal growth and connective tissue. I ask myself, is this tendril attachment part of nature’s intricate design system of structural support surrounding stricken or ailing trees? Or perhaps, like the spider in the lair, they are containing and sucking the life out of it for another purpose?

Immerse yourself in the sound of birdsong recorded in the woodlands and along the river, as you explore the Woodlands Gallery. Click on the Birdsong player, and then open the Gallery by clicking on a picture. You can also have a listen to the short poem 'Deer Wresting'.