Adrian Houston’s new photography book celebrates the UK’s rich array of indigenous trees
Trees are relative newcomers to Earth, only arriving in the last 10% of its estimated 4.543 billion years. They are, however, its longest living organisms, so old that we may trace ancient volcanic eruptions or droughts in their rings. Studies suggest they communicate with others – through huge networks of mycorrhizal roots and airborne chemicals – and many have nationalities, with more than half of all tree species existing only in a single country. Alder, Ash, Hawthorn, Elm, Hazel, Willow, Oak, Yew, Elder – each of these trees native to the UK have their own unique histories, myths and form. Alarmed at the rate in which indigenous trees were being affected by disease and global warming, photographer Adrian Houston began documenting them in all their multi-faceted majesty, in turn asking a diverse range of figures what their arboreal favourites were. The result of close to five years’ work, the newly published A Portrait of the Tree, is a love letter, rallying cry, and exploration of the tales connected to Britain’s trees, be they stories of grief, renewal, survival or shelter.
Another project from Houston, ‘Nature’s Crowned Jewels’, can also be enjoyed from 10th to 20th December 2022 at Sotheby’s New Bond Street. Responding to The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) – that recently saw a nationwide network of 70 Ancient Woodlands and 70 Ancient Trees unveiled in celebration of the Platinum Jubilee – Houston, fellow photographer Charles Sainsbury-Plaice, and painter Mary Anne Aytoun-Ellis have captured a range of stunning specimens. The photography and artwork displayed at the exhibition will be sold via The Tree Art Gallery and also auctioned privately at Sotheby’s, with a donation going to the initiative’s regeneration drive, which has already seen a million trees planted. “Trees and woodlands are a defining and constant part of the landscape,” notes Houston. “The QGC is a unique way of illustrating how they connect us all on a universal level, as well as a timely reminder of the importance of planting for our future generations.”
To celebrate the publication of A Portrait of the Tree, Houston has penned an introduction to the project, below, delving into the sublime aspect of nature and the perils of taking our trees for granted.
‘Nature has an intensity so strong it gives you a totally different view on the world. When you witness earth’s natural power, it is sometimes hard to see its underlying fragility. But scratch beneath the surface and it is there. The need to protect what we have before it is too late has influenced my work for as long as I can remember. Experiencing first-hand the natural power of the earth, makes you realize the sheer force of what surrounds us and gives us the ability the breath. In 2004 I was photographing the vent of Kilauea (the goddess of fire) on the Big Island in Hawaii when the volcano started to erupt. This near-death experience made me realise how insignificant we are to the natural power of the Earth and how we must do our upmost to protect our planet.
My life’s journey has made me realise how important trees are to us: they provide us with the very air we breathe, soaking up and capturing carbon from the atmosphere and converting it into oxygen. They stabilise our soil, preventing erosion, and help to limit flooding by absorbing stormwater. They provide shelter and food for wildlife – from multitudes of tiny insects to tawny owls, bats and deer – supporting teeming ecosystems. In our cities, it is estimated that trees can reduce temperatures by as much as 7°C and their canopies trap dust and pollutants from the air.
Many trees have healing properties and some of the world’s pharmaceuticals are derived from trees: Aspirin comes from willow bark, Yews are a source of Taxol used for skin cancers, as well as tree oils and bark quinine. Doctors are realising the importance of the environment in which patients recover is just as important as the medicines they take. As well as the physiological benefits of trees, attention is turning to eco-psychology based on our notion of our disconnection with nature. Modern medicine often sets the physical and the emotional apart, yet their roots are firmly intertwined, and research has shown how powerful exposure to the natural environment is for both our mental and physical wellbeing. Trees have the calming properties to bring back our connection to nature, reducing stress levels and providing joy and inspiration. Spending time walking through a forest or sitting under a tree has been proven to be incredibly beneficial to our well-being.
We in Britain have a strong affinity with the Oak, it being our National symbol of strength. The ruling majesty of our woods, the English Oak (Quercus robur) supports more life than any other native tree species in the UK. Oaks have been common to the UK since the end of the Ice age and are steeped in our history, from ancient Druid rituals practiced in their groves to stories of royalty finding protection among their canopies and couples married under their branches in the time of Oliver Cromwell. The durability and usefulness of the tree’s timber is one of the reasons we ruled the waves, HMS Victory being constructed from over 6,000 trees – 2,000 of which were oaks. Luckily for us these trees have been preserved in our deer parks and Royal Forests, status symbols of the aristocracy in the medieval ages, many of which have remained protected areas of land.
Our pagan ancestors worshipped trees but for many of us nature has been pushed out of our lives. In the United Kingdom today, only 13 per cent of land is covered in trees, compared to an average of 35 per cent elsewhere in Europe. From a land rich in forests and woodlands, we have become a nation literally stripped bare of this most valuable of natural resources.
‘The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity and some scare see nature at all. But to the eyes of a man of imagination, nature is imagination itself’
– William Blake
This quote has always stuck in my mind as I feel sometimes that people have grown to take trees for granted and forgotten how important they are in every way. For as long as we have been on the planet, they are an integral part of us. Trees are under threat, endangered with disease, global warming, deforestation and pollution. Yet they represent one of our greatest hopes for the future of the planet.
Over the past four years I have immersed myself in the world of trees. Trees have lived decades longer than any human being on the planet. They are old and wise, and I have acknowledged that with my artistic vision – A Portrait of the Tree.
This was conceived as a way of illustrating how trees connect us all on a universal level. The great beauty about asking people to think about their favourite tree is that most people have one, thinking back to climbing them as a child, sitting in their shade, or as a defining and constant part of the landscape. The fact that some people have forgotten about their connection to that special place with a special tree is understandable in the frenetic world that we live in, but returning to that happy place from time to time would be the best form of therapy we could have. The way trees communicate with one another and other species underneath the forest floor sharing nutrients and water through their root systems, is something known as the wood wide web, and the way in which more seasoned mother trees are able to detect the ill health of their neighbours through this mycorrhizal network and provide them with much-needed nutrients is a lesson to us all.
My hope is that together the stories and pictures in this book offer a powerful tool to help educate people, from children to adults, about the vital role that trees play in all of our lives, in turn giving these amazing trees a voice.’
A Portrait of the Tree: A celebration of favourite trees from around Britain was published September 2021
