“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.” Thus said the Lorax, making his own introduction to the rapacious Once-ler in the classic 1971 book named for its title character by Theodor Seuss Geisel – Dr. Seuss. It’s a book I suspect most […]
I couldn’t help but find it particularly ironic that the day after the first rains my home state of Oregon had seen for months finally arrived, providing much-needed help to the valiant fire fighters working around the clock trying to extinguish the massive forest fires raging throughout the state, that a copy of Edward Struzik’s new “Firestorm” arrived on my desk from Island Press.
Although I am well known for avoiding self-published books, I am also experienced enough to know that for many photographers, self-publishing is often the only way they can get their work into print. Thus when a publicist contacts me with a book of photography, I am more likely to give it a hearing than other books. Such was the case with TreeGirl; Intimate Encounters with Wild Nature.
I have walked through some of the world’s great man-made cathedrals, and I have walked through some of the Pacific Northwest’s great old growth forests; between the two, I prefer the forests. Not due to any anti-religious sentiments, mind you, rather because just as many people I know find a connection to the universe whilst praying in magnificent temples of glass and stone, I find that connection whilst sitting quietly – my own manner of prayer, if you will – in magnificent temples of moss and trees.