The Living Forest (2017)
The Living Forest: A Visual Journey Into the Heart of the Woods was published through Timber Press in 2017 with 201 of Robert Llewellyn's images. Joan Maloof, biology and environmental studies professor at Salisbury University and founder and director of the Old-Growth Forest Network, provided the words.
This photographic collection considers the forest as "a complex, interconnected ecosystem filled with plants, birds, mammals, insects, and fungi," making for a visual journey that immerses the reader "deep into the woods." Llewellyn's "wide-ranging photography" highlights "the small and the large, the living and the dead, and the seen and the unseen."
Professor Maloof made the process more engaging for the photographer:
"We’d go out into the forest and she would say to me, ‘Turn over that log. What do you see?’ I would say, ‘What will I see?’ She would never tell me. It was all about discovery." — Robert Llewellyn
Llewellyn's "awe-inspiring photographs" capture owls and hawks in close-up and herons in flight from the air. Time-lapse photography reveals the slow changing of leaves. Maloof's "lyrical essays" detail "the science behind the wonder."
Press
"In years past, Robert Llewellyn has blown our minds with the indelibly detailed photographs in “Seeing Trees,” “Seeing Flowers” and “Seeing Seeds.” In The Living Forest: A Visual Journey he has teamed up with Joan Maloof, the founder and director of the Old-Growth Forest Network, to peer into the mystery and magic of our woodlands." — Dominique Browning, The New York Times
"Llewellyn is a master of revealing the intricacies of the small-scale elements of such big creatures, things such as the winged fruit of the maple or the male catkins of the red oak, spilling over their twigs like waterfalls." — Washington Post
"With precise, stunning photographs and a distinctly literary narrative that tells the story of the forest ecosystem along the way, The Living Forest is an invitation to join in the eloquence of seeing. . . Browsing through the book, one gets the sense that each image and anecdote is the snapshot of a moment of pure discovery." — Sierra Magazine
"Lovely, Dark, and Deep . . Leaf through this book and you’ll be transported to a world of soaring branches, misty mountains and a treasury of living things that includes acorns, fungi, eagles, coyotes, snakes and millipedes." — BookPage
“Arresting photographs combine with musings about the web of life in deciduous forests in this coffee-table book.” — Publishers Weekly
Reviews
Details
Title: The Living Forest: A Visual Journey Into the Heart of the Woods
Photographs: Robert Llewellyn
Words: Joan Maloof
Publisher: Timber Press, Portland and London
Year: 2017
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 266
Dimensions: 11 x 11 in. (280 x 280 mm)
Images: 201 color photographs
ISBN-10: 1604697121
ISBN-13: 9781604697124
Availability
The Living Forest is available directly via the publisher, Timber Press, or through Amazon.