BEAUTIFUL FOREST ENCHANTMENTS NOW

ELLIE DAVIES

Forests are full of enchantments. From the natural elements of landscape to the wild creatures that live within it to all that grows, waxes and wanes in its wooded pockets, magic abounds. No wonder forests are the settings of many a fairytale and legend.

Photographer Ellie Davies illuminates the enchanting nature of forests and human relationships with them. She explores the confluence of nature, culture, and human activity.

Davies’ works are not merely photographs -- they are also environmental art works, as she manipulates the natural world into idealisations.

In some works, Davies rearranges leaves, branches, rocks, and other natural found objects to create a new sense of forest magic.

In some, she adds additional unrelated materials, such as paint, smoke, and strands of wool. In others, she overlays separate imagery to create new fusions and constructs.

“Making a variety of temporary and non-invasive interventions in the forest, my work places the viewer in the gap between reality and fantasy, creating spaces which encourage the viewer to re-evaluate the way in which their own relationship with the landscape is formed,” Davies explains.

Working exclusively in the UK for the past 8 years, the forests becomes studios for Davies.

“These altered landscapes operate on a number of levels,” Davies explains. “They are a reflection of my personal relationship with the forest, a meditation on universal themes relating to the psyche and call into question the concept of landscape as a social and cultural construct.”

The images are as thought provoking as they are beautiful. They visualize a sense of wonder, both inherent in the forest and within ourselves.

Davies has created several series, exploring different experimental themes.

In “Smoke and Mirrors” Davies places odd, alien trees within the forest, highlighting the beauty of the unknown.

In the “Stars” series, Davies overlays the wooded landscapes with images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, showing the universal relationship of forests.

The “Between the Trees series plays with the cliche, “You can’t see the forest for the trees,” looking at the spaces between trees.

“The Dwellings” series examines our material interests in forests.

We enter images in the “Come With Me” series, as our eyes journey down the footpaths Davies placed in each scene.

Davies created fictional structures using materials found within the landscape in “Another Green World.”

Davies weaves personal experience through the forest in the “Knit One, Pearl One” series.

A single ray of light pierces the thick forest canopy in “The Gloaming” series, highlighting the spiritual nature that abounds.

“Silent, Dark and Deep” illuminates that perceived strangeness that lies beneath the commonplace.

Read more about Beautiful Enchantments in Beautiful Enchanting Cottages Now.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Ellie Davies. "I Always Knew You'd Come Back..."
2. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Between the Trees” Series.
3. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Another Green World” Series.
4. mage: by Ellie Davies. “Stars” Series. Source material from STScI/Hubble & NASA)
5. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Come With Me” Series.
6. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Another Green World” Series.
7. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Another Green World” Series.
8. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Stars” Series. Source material from STScI/Hubble & NASA)
9. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Smoke & Mirrors” Series.
10. mage: by Ellie Davies. “Stars” Series. Source material from STScI/Hubble & NASA)
11. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Between the Trees” Series.
12. Image: by Ellie Davies. “The Dwellings” Series.
13. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Come With Me” Series.
14. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Another Green World” Series.
15. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Knit One, Pearl One” Series.
16. Image: by Ellie Davies. “The Gloaming” Series.
17. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Between the Trees” Series.
18. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Stars” Series. Source material from STScI/Hubble & NASA)
19. Image: by BN App - Download now!
20. Image: by Ellie Davies. “Another Green World” Series.