The araucaria has a particular value in the process of creation of this photographer. An entire series is dedicated to these holy trees, which are older than mankind. The images captured in the eternal snows of Patagonia enchant with an ambience like tender poetry. They are more akin to the fine art of Japanese ink paintings, where a few fine lines can whiff a mountain scenery onto paper, than the realism of a colour photograph.

In contrast to this lies her series on acacias, once venerated as “trees of life” in the desert. It speaks a different aesthetic language. Leafless, with withered branches, they emerge out of the plain like charcoal drawings. The monumental sand dune in the background seems to have the sole function of setting the stage for these striking figures. The acacias in the red light of the Namib, insinuate heat and death; whilst the araucarias are enveloped in the pallid light of cold and sleep.

© Dr. Barbara Rollmann-Borretty, curator