Image of the week… Tobias

16th June 2023

Tobias (a delicious name imo) aka ‘the forest man’ guided us down the narrow, well driven pathway as the trees tunneled around us

After throwing him a list of questions he looked to the sky as if asking for a sign and then hopped into his wagon suggesting we follow.

“Are there any white birch gatherings? Can you show us the wildest part of the forest? Are there any patches of fallen trees…?”

Our first stop – The Mercado trees. It was precisely what I had in mind. A large patch of trees fallen like ‘pick up sticks’.
The nest of intertwined beams and branches made a hilarious daring obstacle course when we tried to investigate. I found myself clambering from one slippery log to the next at a sloth’s pace with absolutely no grace.

Once ‘in it’ it was hard to get a sense of what the scene looked like. Next came the jigsaw puzzle of where to place the people I had in mind and how.

What was possible? What could trick the eye? Be playful but not too busy. What light would be ideal?

We revisited the climbing frame of vegetation with Andreas, Max, and Tabea the first time I met them. They too seemed inspired by the maze, and we began to play.

Shards of light and contorted figurations were a struggle to contend with and the resulting images appear too messy.

We explored the other side of the path where I found a single fallen tree that had a following of similar fallen trees behind.
I dance between hating how staged this image looks but equally recall how naturally he slid into a restful stance

He looks like a sleeping prince thrown into a slumber from a poisonous apple. Or maybe just a pleasantly stoned boy from the Duben Heide region hanging out with a Brit for the day in the forest.
OAO xx
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