How a Hidden World Changed my Photography - The WOOD WIDE WEB
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- Опубліковано 28 січ 2022
- I bought a book in 2016 which completely altered my perception of trees and how I interpret them with a camera. In this episode, I'm delighted to share some of what I've learnt and how that has influenced my woodland photography in recent years. It turns out that trees talk through a complex underground network of fungal threads! But how can this scientific research influence photography and our creative view of the natural world?
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What a thoughtful presentation of the life of trees, Simon! I am a retired botany professor and I used to recommend the book "The Secret Life of Plants" to my students. It was eye opening to the neural network of plants and their interaction. Much like the book you mention. I agree with your thoughts and I have always thought that your images represent the premise of the book so well. Thank you for presenting such a great video.
Thank you very much, Mary. That's very kind. I'll look up.the book you mention :)
Your love for the woodlands is palpable. I have that same love. I see trees as old souls.
Really glad you talked about how a deeper understanding of botanical biology has deepened your photography. Listening to landscape photographers talk only about compositions rings a little shallow when the planet is going up in flames. We are witnesses to our time and this is the primary purpose of our photographs.
That explains exactly why I’m so drawn to your stunning woodland photography!
Thank you very much!
Photography, history, science philosophy...
Your work is inspiring not only for photography but your approach to learning and teaching.
Impressive, spectacular, emotional, inspiring, there are so many adjectives I could use to describe this video. This is "feeling" the forest, it is respecting nature, it is knowing that we are not alone, despite being alone" photographing, we are surrounded by living beings that communicate without being heard, without being seen, without being felt. your feeling made me identify even more with you. Let's continue to feel the forest, hug the trees, talk to them while we photograph them. Excellent video! Thank you Simon.
Lovely video and your combing photography and botany is very special. Your images bring calmness and peace for me, colours so soft and natural. As someone who have spent my last 30 years in horticulture I so appreciate your videos, thanks for sharing.
Many thanks for your kind words, Victor :)
Thanks for your love for the nature-we are all a part of the nature. I think it is important that we start and learn to respect and love the nature like a old old friend how is always on our side. namaste
“Hidden life of Trees” has also changed my approach to Care for this Earth. Photographs are inspiring to me.
This is why you are my top UA-cam photographer, wonderful video with great content and information beyond just the picture taking. Keep up the great work.
Current thinking is that the mycorrizae actually farm the trees, ie the trees are a crop grown by the fungi, the mycorrhizae are in charge. A great story is the Dutchman's Pipe, a non photosynthetic descendant of acid loving species living on chalk but fed by the mycorrhizae usung sugars drawn from the beech tree
At last, an aware and interesting photographer to listen to!
Such an amazing subject! I recommend “Finding the Mother Tree” by Suzanne Simard. She writes about her journey in this area of work, her life passion. Thanks for these beautiful images!
Many thanks, Karen! Yes, I've linked to that book in the video description too :)
Thanks for sharing Simon. I first heard about trees talking to each other about 3 years ago and was very excited by this. It brought the world I inhabit around me to life in a new and rich way. It also helped to see and appreciate the nature of earth, of soil, etc so much differently.
GREAT talk we had
I mean to catch up to "The Green Planet" series. We definitely underestimate just how vibrant a community the world of trees and other plants is. Ever notice how in the canopy in a mature woodland, the branches of individual trees tend to not overlap or cross? It's called "canopy shyness". It seems to serve to ensure each mature tree gets its share of light, and to reduce transmission of disease between trees.
Ah yes, I've heard about this before. It's not strikingly obvious in the places I shoot but I've seen some fascinating photos of it.
Your photos are magnificent...trees are also among my main sources of inspiration...wonderful to hear just how you feel and think about them...
Fantastic video Simon! Having read 'The Hidden Life of Trees' last year myself, I understand why it inspired you as it's a very interesting read. The fact trees can signal or warn their neighbours when under threat is just amazing, I think I'll have to give it another read after this.
Eventually got the hidden life of trees this Christmas, after a number of mistaken presents over the years. It's a fascinating read but it's hard going as I'm reading it at bedtime and keep dropping off. Super presentation Simon as usual, is the next collaboration with Sir David 😀
The Maestro at Work! Fab video Simon as always ☺️
Many thanks, David!
On the theme of plant life and how they communicate, you should hear Paul Stamets and Dennis McKenna talk. Both are full of wisdom on the theme and have super interesting insights!
Thank you for helping Tom Heaton
I want to wish you and your peer's good luck on your exhibition coming this summer. You deserve any kind of exposure you can get because in my opinion, you are a very good photographer and I look forward to your You Tube posts.
Great vid 😊 love your thoughts. being in with nature, especially in woodland, is where I prefer to be. I’m always at peace among them. Nature is a wonderful mother. X
Lovely video Simon. Really enjoyed the photos. And always enjoy watching you and Meg walking in the woods. Thanking for the video.
Well done matey that was great, what a great job. Most people will have never even realised. Your woodland is a perfect way to help illustrate this
Ordered the book. Sounds like some interesting reading.
This reminds me of a movie I seen recently, Avatar. It is so painful to see us damaging our own 'tree' of life. Great video Simon and I hope you don't mind my rambling!
Fabulous stuff! I absolutely love Gathering Time. It's a wonderful treatise with beautiful images, and the descriptions and essays within add a dimension missing in almost all other photography books. A thoroughly inspiring read. My professional background is microbiology, so the wood wide web really chimes with me!
Excellent!! Simon.
A thought-provoking video, with excellent images! Makes me want to get out there amongst the trees and see what relationships I can capture.
Good to hear some of the motivation behind your photography Simon. I am currently working on a photography project, photographing a local nature reserve / common, that sadly suffers from wild fires. I am always struck by the resilience of the landscape to bounce back in this location and I have been researching the area. Beautiful photographs you showed in the video too!
I'm not much of a woodlander, and I much prefer photographing the cities. The forrest always seems randomized, chaotic, and I often can't make sense of it. The intertwining mess of branches always give me an uneasy composition - but, that being said - I appreciate you making this video. It's opened my eyes to potential similarities and nuances of the trees. I'll be more likely and excited to look for compositions on my next walk in the woods.
Hi Simon you have a wonderful way of presenting your art great images from a fabulous photographer I noticed meg had picked up her own trypod earlier in the video I watched your video on when you explained how you started your photography journey and the accident while riding your bike and how low you had become thank goodness you were able to create a positive out of a negative situation your video's are truly very enjoyable lots of fun with wonderful informative presentation and gorgeous images I wish every success in all you do many thanks Simon for a great video
Enjoyed the video about the underground life of trees. Food for thought.Neil.
Excellent video Simon, I’ll be sure to check out that book. Beautiful pictures as usual, still very much enjoying your book 👍🏻
Many thanks as always, Andy :)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and comments...a great video with interesting thoughts on a very interesting subject... keep up the good work & I look forward to seeing more of your videos... cheers from Australia 😀
What a wonderful video, calming and profound, just like Nature 🤩 It feels like you are in connection to your inner nature, and that’s BEAUTIFUL 💚 I know myself how difficult can be to take good pictures on the forest without images looking just chaotic. I will give a look to that book. Thank you for creating this kind of content
A very thought provoking video Simon. Thanks for sharing.
Fascinating stuff. Enjoyed that!
...and there was a Meg!
I have been photographing woodland for over 15 years and learned about what happens underground some time algo. Since then my way of viewing the woodland changed. Nice video Simón. Regards from The Basque Country 😊
A very insightful video Simon. In further trips to my local woodlands I will look more for the community than separation.
I am so glad I
I came across this Simon! I feel the same way but you had the words to my feelings, thank you! And I have read the books you mention on hidden life of trees.
Beautiful video Simon. Insightful and thought provoking. Have read the book "The Secret Life of Trees" and agree with you, it's a fascinating read.
As always a very thoughtful and thought provoking video! Makes a lot of sense to understand your subject.
My wife took part in a workshop with Peter Wohlleben. Very impressive. But I never made the connection to photography. Thanks for this.
Great video! Thanks for taking us on your journey...
Wonderful video and beautiful pictures! Thank you.
So insightful and inspiring! Learnt a lot from this Simon and has opened my eyes to be more observant of the landscape than just “get a shot”! Will be picking up your book 📚 hope to learn more and admire your awesome photos. 🤩! Great video mate
WOW Inspirational from being to end words and visuals
Thank you very much:-)
I remember watching the Wizzard of Oz when I was a child and I never thought of trees communicating with each other. I love the idea that trees and for that matter other plants communicate with each other, using roots and such. Thanks.
Good to see you Simon and Meg. Thanks for the the thoughtful words and enjoyable video. Take care you two!
Yes very interesting 🤔
T.A. Barron has this underlying theme in his Merlin series of books. No doubt there is a bio-chemical communication of some kind in the forest. Sounds like a great basis for a sequel to Fantastic Voyage! :-) Love your beautiful pup! That shot of him/her picking up that branch was fantastic.
Great video Simon, I'm a Chartered Surveyor as well as an amateur landscape photographer, and as such probably have a better understanding of wood rotting fungi than most. Coniophora and Serpula Lacrymans (Wet & Dry rot), to name two of the most common. Serpula Lacrymans (Dry rot) is particularly interesting since we now know that the mycelium can travel across inert materials such as masonry. I'd guess we can apply this principle to trees in rocky landscapes. Congratulations on the book btw, I have my copy and it's a beautiful piece of work.
Moving. Thank you.
I first learned about the importance of the mycelium from a guy by the name of Paul Stamets, who researched fungi and its relationship with and the importance to the forests extensively in the nineties and early 2000's. Some of the largest organisms in the world can be found under the forest floor, a mind-boggling fact. Just today I was watching Allister Benn discuss an image of a tree by Adam Gibbs, likening the appearance of the delicate tree branches to neural networks in the brain. When I look at some of your forest images it's not hard to imagine energy and impulses traveling along those pathways of branches.
Thanks, as always for your inspiring and thoughtful video. Living in the New Forest, I am always inspired by the symbiotic relationship between trees and your photos are a t’estiment to your understanding and empathy.
Thank you very much, Judy!
wonderful vid, i have the book you mention and the fine intricacies of nature and what is going on beneath our feet is truly amazing! Watching you stroll thru the woods w/Meg, seeing your images and a cup of coffee is always a lovely way to start my morning! I would be in heaven following you around in your incredibly beautiful woodlands and getting some clicks of the landscape as well! Im still enjoying your fantastic book and going thru it for a 3rd viewing and surely will be followed by more visits over time. 🙏🏼🙏🏼thank you for sharing your intimate world with us!
Thank you very much for your kind comment, Karen. I'm so pleased to hear that you're continuing to enjoy my book :-D
I've just finished watching the Green planet this weekend, so this was a brilliant addition to a great series. My love of trees began as a child reading the faraway tree, where all the trees would talk and whisper to each other as a community! It was the start of a life long love of Woodlands and then taking pictures of them over the past few years. You are a wonderful inspiration to myself and other photographers with your beautiful images so in tune with nature 🌿🌳✨
Awesome Video Simon! It made me think of the vegetation in my area.
I live in the deserts of Arizona and don't have the old oak forests you have such an attachment to. I do however, have an attachment the wonderful desert landscape around me. I wonder if the cacti and desert brush have the same sort of "WOOD WIDE WEB" happening. Something for me to look into.
Thanks again for the great videos.🙂
This episode was impactful, informative, and truly enjoyable. Thank you for the quality content Simon.
Beautiful photography
Very interesting. In my day at high school science (I'm 71), we called it micro biology, and our texxt book was the "Web of Life". You can still get it secondhand today. It was a revolution in science teaching at the time, and has given me an understanding of life to this day. Beautiful images by the way.
Brilliant! A deeper insight into how science and mother nature influence your work. Fantastic images as always and a very thought provoking video!
I really appreciate your thoughts on woodland. They express what I so often feel when among the trees in a woodland but can't put into words. That's precisely when I try to allow my photographs to speak for me. This is a really special video, than you Simon.
That's very kind of you to say, Mary. Thank you!
Superb video, Simon. Raw fascination of our planet is as engaging as beautiful photography. You can see how both scientists and artists get equally excited by their work: they are both explorers. Although they use different tools, they both fulfil the human desire to know more, either about nature, ourselves or both.
Thank you very much, James! You're absolutely right. The journey of all aspects of discovery is a fulfilling one :)
A fascinating and quite profound message
Excellent video, very informative and interesting. Recently bought your fantastic book.📷👍🏻
Just watched this again love it so much
A great video as always Simon! It was really interesting to hear you talk about a subject that has interested me for years, just the thought of the forest as a single, interconnected entity is fascinating, and then to link it to your photography, very inspiring, I'd never really thought about it that way. It will definitely change the way I approach woodland scenes in the future. Thank you!
Great insights into how science and art, in their own ways, seek to demystify and help us understand and appreciate nature. Thank you, Simon.
Beautiful images Simon, you are very lucky to have access to these wonderful woodlands. 👍😁
Interesting. Can't help thinking Tolkien was way ahead of his time with his attitude towards trees. Good stuff 👍
He absolutely was :)
Love that book! It has helped me look at the forests in my backyard with new understanding. Very good video and I will likely come back to it as there is much to understand here. Thank you for sharing.
Great video, Simon! Very informative!
Great video Simon. This is always a topic that has interested me, especially after watching to videos and listening to podcasts with Paul Stamets, but I'd never made the connection to how it could impact my photography. Cool thought experiment
A very interesting video Simon, never heard of this before but feel I need to read this book now.
Very interesting and well explained. Thank you.
Great and very inspiring video Simon, like all of them! ;) what t a causality! I've just watched Will Smith Wellcome to Earth episodes and in the Power of scent there's a mention of the Wood Wide Web concept and now seen your video, it is an amazing concept and proves all that we still have to learn about nature...
I would like to say your the David Attenborough of english woodland, absolutely loved your thoughts of the old english woodland.........Thank you...
Hehe, that's very kind Graham. Many thanks!
Ultra informative Simon. I very liked your explanation of how Science and Art get along. Best Wishes
Wonderful & inspiring, thanks 🙂
Beautiful!
Great video! I didn't know about how all the trees were connected by all the mycelium and their communication until a couple of years ago when my son explained it to me, I was amazed! Have you heard of the Pando in Utah? I copied a small portion of an article on it. All of the trees are connected at the roots.
IN THE FISHLAKE NATIONAL FOREST in Utah, a giant has lived quietly for thousands of years, and may be one of the oldest living things on the planet.
The Trembling Giant, or Pando, is an enormous grove of quaking aspens that take the “forest as a single organism” metaphor and makes it literal: the grove really is a single organism. Each of the approximately 47,000 or so trees in the grove is genetically identical and all the trees share a single root system. While many trees spread through flowering and sexual reproduction, quaking aspens usually reproduce asexually, by sprouting new trees from the expansive lateral root of the parent. The individual trees aren’t individuals but stems of a massive single clone, and this clone is truly massive. “Pando” is a Latin word that translates to “I spread.”
Excellent vlog Simon. Thank you for the insight on the science of the tree community. I will definitely at those books to my reading list and can’t wait to get your book in the mail. Cheers.
Thanks you very much. Glad you enjoyed it and I hope you receive Gathering Time very soon :)
Wonderfully expressed, Simon! I first learned of Dr. Simard while watching "Intelligent Trees". As always, great video and images. Beautiful and important work!
Thank you very much, Annie :-)
Fascinating to learn this Simon, you have completely changed my perspective on trees as a collective group 👍💖
That's great to hear, Carol. Many thanks!
Hi Simon. I've always been fascinated by trees. I'm actually working on an album at the moment entitled "Branching Out". I'm even more intrigued now after watching your video! The whole idea that the trees in a forest or in any woodland actually form a community and look after each other is a wonderful one!
I hope it brings inspiration for your album :-)
Nice explanation of your connection with the connected trees, below and above the ground. Gives a different explanation of the concept of breathing space that I can connect to from my own point of view. Much appreciated.
Many thanks, Wim! Glad you enjoyed it :)
A great video Simon, with a profound message. I love knowing the science/biology behind what I photograph, it simply adds to the wonder and allows you to "see" more, I also feel it allows me to "merge" or absorb the environment and the "vibe" around me easier resulting in more meaningful images, just like you described in this video. I really enjoyed it, thanks!
Thank you very much, Rudi! I completely agree. It makes the practice of photography a much richer experience.
If you haven't done so already I would recommend subscribing to Simon Booth's videos. I think he has a background in botany, and his comments are always insightful about the biology of woodlands.
Well done.
Waoo. Great video. Thanks
I watched a video about the Wood Wide Web quite some time ago and found it interesting, but I haven't heard of that particular book before. (appreciate the recommendation!) A very unique insight as to how you apply nature and science to your work.
Thank you. Hope you enjoy the book!
Hi Simon. What a fascinating subject. I enjoyed your article in OP 277 and this video puts a lot more meat on the bones so to speak. I'll always view my woodland visits differently from now on. Huge thanks for sharing.
Hi Tim. Many thanks for reading and watching! Pleased to hear you enjoyed both :)
Beautifully put together Simon and I really enjoyed reading Hidden Trees thanks for your recommendation last year. And I’ll be keen to check out Green Planet as I haven’t seen that advertised here.
Fantastic video, both books ordered and debating which edition I need from you... I am learning to photo and its really connecting to trees and their world...!
Thank you. Well obviously I recommend the Collector's Edition but any is great ;-)
Alongside Avatar, the mycorrhizal network has found its way into the Star Trek universe in Star Trek: Discovery. Science & art mirroring the symbiosis between plants & fungi.
Oh really? That's great! I can't wait for Avatar 2 :)
great words and view point Simon. I'll get a book one day I promise the Aussie dollar is a little low at the moment and on the other side of the world
Piękne zdjęcia i film. Super realizacja . Pozdrawiam serdecznie i zapraszam do lasu🌲🌳🌿szczęśliwego Nowego Roku 2022.