The World Is Saved

This project currently consists of 18 large-scale colour photographs and one video piece, all of various trees growing in the desert.

The project has evolved from travels I have done to the Atacama Desert in Chile to investigate how and why humans settle in remote and harsh environments. I see the desert as a stage where stories and actions evolve, and on my last trip I found lonesome trees that miraculously live in one of the driest places in the world. Somehow they have coped with the conditions and developed their own strategy to survive, and this in turn has marked their physical appearance. The project is also inspired by neurologist Oliver Sacks’ studies of the human brain.

By giving each photograph a personal title, I aim to evoke thoughts about individuals’ physical and emotional conditions. How psychological states and survival strategies can also be detected from the outside, just as these trees have their individual physical form. The trees speak of loneliness and remote, solitary lives as well as human beings’ relationship with nature and society.