Sylvania by photographer Anna Beeke is a composite “forest-land” of photographs that explores the intersection of nature, imagination, and myth in the American woodlands.
Across cultures and centuries, the forest has occupied a unique place in our collective imagination. Sylvania, by Brooklyn-based photographer Anna Beeke, explores the intersection of nature, imagination and myth in the American woodlands, from Washington to Vermont to Louisiana. There are countless histories and myths that involve humankind venturing beyond the structured limit of civilization into the chaotic labyrinth of the woods.
"Like so many before me, I too went into the woods in search of adventure, transcendence, and the unknown. I entered the forests of the Pacific Northwest because of some ineffable thing connected to memories and mythologies of my own, and continued my quest in other American woodlands seeking a more universal understanding of the varied and branching experience of humanity in relation to this primal, mysterious landscape.
While I doubt I will ever be fully out of the woods, for now I have returned from my arboreal outings with Sylvania, a composite forest-land of photographs comprising scenes from various and sundry American woodlands. Through images of both real and depicted nature, this book examines the differing characteristics of these woods while also seeking the Forest Universal rooted in them all, exploring the physical and metaphoric presence of the forest in the contemporary world." — Anna Beeke
