Beth Moon – författare

Beth Moon's fourteen-year quest to photograph ancient trees has taken her across the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Some of her subjects grow in isolation, on remote mountainsides, private estates, or nature preserves; others maintain a proud, though often precarious, existence in the midst of civilization. All, however, share a mysterious beauty perfected by age and the power to connect us to a sense of time and nature much greater than ourselves. It is this beauty, and this power, that Moon captures in her remarkable photographs.This handsome volume presents nearly seventy of Moon's finest tree portraits as full-page duotone plates. The pictured trees include the tangled, hollow-trunked yews - some more than a thousand years old - that grow in English churchyards; the baobabs of Madagascar, called 'upside-down trees' because of the curious disproportion of their giant trunks and modest branches; and the fantastical dragon's-blood trees, red-sapped and umbrella-shaped, that grow only on the island of Socotra, off the Horn of Africa.Moon's narrative captions describe the natural and cultural history of each individual tree, while Todd Forrest, vice president for horticulture and living collections at The New York Botanical Garden, provides a concise introduction to the biology and preservation of ancient trees. An essay by the critic Steven Brown defines Moon's unique place in a tradition of tree photography extending from William Henry Fox Talbot to Sally Mann, and explores the challenges and potential of the tree as a subject for art.

"...Moon pays tribute to these endangered succulents, with dozens of breathtaking duotone portraits of some of the oldest baobab trees in Madagascar, Botswana, South Africa, and Senegal." — Architectural Digest"Baobab is photographer Beth Moon’s tribute to the magnificent, threatened trees upon which cultures and ecosystems depend. . . In the face of such monumental losses, the photographs in Baobab amount to an 'act of defiance.'" — Foreword Reviews, starred reviewA spectacular oversize photo book celebrating Africa’s most majestic trees―which are now facing an unprecedented ecological threatBaobabs are one of Africa’s natural wonders: they can live more than 2,000 years, and their massive, water-storing trunks can grow to more than one hundred feet in circumference. They serve as a renewable source of food, fiber, and fuel, as well as a focus of spiritual life. But now, suddenly, the largest baobabs are dying off , literally collapsing under their own weight. Scientists believe these ancient giants are being dehydrated by drought and higher temperatures, likely the result of climate change.Photographer Beth Moon, already responsible for some of the most indelible images of Africa’s oldest and largest baobabs, has undertaken a new photographic pilgrimage to bear witness to this environmental catastrophe and document the baobabs that still survive. In this oversize volume, Moon presents breathtaking new duotone tree portraits of the baobabs of Madagascar, Botswana, South Africa, and Senegal. She recounts her eventful journey to visit these monumental trees in a moving diaristic text studded with color travel photos.This book also includes an essay by Adrian Patrut, leader of a research team that has studied Africa's largest baobabs and alerted the world to the threat these majestic trees are facing. Baobab is not only a compelling photo book and travel narrative, but also a timely ecological warning.

The oak tree is one of nature’s most majestic creations, sacred to Zeus and Thor, capable of growing to a tremendous size and living for hundreds of years. It is also an ecosystem unto itself, sheltering and nourishing countless species of birds, mammals, insects, plants, and fungi.In this breathtaking volume, acclaimed tree portraitist Beth Moon, photographer of the best-selling Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time, pays tribute to the oak. She presents three rich and interconnected series of images: First, the ancient oaks of the United Kingdom and Europe, gnarled and knobby giants that have survived through the centuries in parks, preserves, and private estates. Second, the sprawling live oaks of the American South, often planted in monumental allées, or canopied avenues. And third, acorns caught in the moment of sprouting, each unfolding in its own pattern, revealing the promise of new life.An essay on the natural history of oaks by Todd Forrest of the New York Botanical Garden, as well as a poetic text by Moon tracing the life cycle of the oak, complement the gorgeous hand-tinted photographs. Oak: From Seed to Ancient Tree will be treasured by all nature lovers.