Art

The Time of Trees

Taking us across 5 continents, photographer Stuart Franklin explores humanity's complex relationship with trees

Stuart Franklin

Stuart Franklin Crown shyness in the 'kapur' tree one of the dipterocarps that, as they mature in the forest, develop mutual avoidance. Kepong Forest Reserve, Malaysia. 1997. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos
Stuart Franklin Bialowieza village seen from Adam and Nuvia's back garden. Poland, Bialowieza. 1998. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos
Stuart Franklin A craftsman's hut. 1994. Java, Indonesia. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos
Stuart Franklin Central Park, New York city, USA. 1988. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos
Stuart Franklin Sacred Neem tree in an Ayurvedic Hospital. Kerala, India. 1998. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos
Stuart Franklin Looking out over the Huang Shan Mountains from Refreshing Terrace. China. 1998. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos
Stuart Franklin Julia "Butterfly" Hill in a 200 foot ancient redwood tree named "Luna". She has lived in the sequoia "Luna" for the past year to protect it from deforestation. California, USA. 1998. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos
Stuart Franklin Dorobo Tribe members walk the Masai steppe looking for game and honey. Tanzania. 1998. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos
Stuart Franklin "The mentality is all quality . . . This is the best [olive oil] in the world, but it is not valued," says Guiseppe Patimo on his farm near Bisceglie, Puglia where olives have been hand-picked for (...)
Stuart Franklin View of trees over the river. Alsace-Lorraine, France. 1968. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos
Stuart Franklin Picture taken from the island of Eilean Ruaridh Mor, Ben Eighe, Scotland. 1997. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos
Stuart Franklin Man walking by tree. Tokyo, Japan. 1987. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos
Stuart Franklin Poland is the last country in Central Europe where a relatively large wolf population still exists. In the early 70's there were less than 100. Now about 800 exist in Bialowieza. Bialowieza, Poland (...)
Stuart Franklin Palm frond in shallow water. Sumaia, Dominican Republic. 1994. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos
Stuart Franklin Exporting logs, Sarawak, Malaysia. 1996. © Stuart Franklin | Magnum Photos

At the dawn of the third millennium, with a planet that is being placed under severe strain by the inexorable march of progress, it is essential to pose the question of what role human beings can play in the preservation of our world.

The photographs that Stuart Franklin has assembled in this extraordinary book, The Time of Trees, takes us on a journey across five continents. Franklin brings out the contradictions in the complex relationship between humans and the environment. Sensitive to this environmental debate, Franklin attempts to convey this dichotomy through these images. After all, trees have been simultaneously adored, contemplated, used, protected, destroyed and worked by man throughout history. Through striking black-and-white photographs, Franklin invites us to reflect upon the contradictory relationship between man and his habitat.

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