And Into The Forest I Go

Alex Llovet
And Into The Forest I Go

Photographs: Alex Llovet

Publisher: Ediciones posibles

156 pages

Year: 2024

Price: 50 €

Comments: Die-cut softcover Swiss binding, with a fabric-covered spine, 31 x 23 cm. Design by Kentaro Terajima. First edition of 500 copies.

And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find myself. - John Muir

Alex Llovet brings us his most documentary-looking work, without losing the poetic and conceptual approach that characterizes him: a project developed over ten years, in the woods surrounding his home.

The forest is the archetype of the wild state, it represents the untamed and as such, it often becomes a place of escape, a refuge in which to hide and maintain anonymity. Because of its darkness and deep rootedness, it also symbolises the unconscious and an ancestral magical space in which to connect with the elemental powers that reside in it and to reconnect with unknown or forgotten parts of our being. In the forest you can escape from society, but not from yourself.

On the outskirts of Barcelona is one of the largest peri-urban parks in the world: the wooded mountain range of Collserola. A place of escape but also a promised land, in the middle of the last century the first settlers arrived here escaping from their places of origin in search of a new opportunity, turning these mountains into a kind of "Catalan farwest". Since then, many have ended up here, including the author, for very different reasons. But they all have something in common: they live among trees, immersed in the forest and in intimate relationship with it, so they have gradually domesticated it, modifying the territory to adapt it to their needs. The fact is that the proximity of the big city makes it easily accessible and therefore vulnerable. But the forest is powerful and has never ceased to exert invisible forces on its inhabitants, leaving its mark on both their homes and their spirit.

Shortlisted as Best photobook of the year "Prix du Livre" Arles 2024