New Roots
Photographer Rita Leistner participates for four years in a community of Tree Planters.
In case anyone felt like planting trees could be a nice holiday in a hippie community, some notes can prove them wrong. “100 people, 45 million trees planted in four years, the equivalent of 48,000 football pitches”, writes photographer Rita Leistner, who became part of a movement of young, driven people working on reforestation in western Canada.
While using a visual language of well lit, carefully framed scenes, the project focuses on candid moments of physical exhaustion, decompression, parties in the wilderness and awe for nature’s majesty. The photographer’s kinship is felt throughout Forest for the Trees, a book and a feature documentary film where people, their ideals and interactions are as important as their mission.
Forest for the Trees is published by
Dewi Lewis and available for the price of 38£.
The homonymous film will be screened at
Roxie Theater House 2 in San Francisco on April 15.
