“QUINAULT”

Photography by Yoshihiko Ueda

Seigensha, Kyoto, Japan, 2003

While scouting locations at which to photograph models, Yoshihiko Ueda visited Olympic National Park in Washington, near Seattle. He was suddenly struck by the overwhelming beauty and vitality of the forests there, Quinault and Hoh Rain Forest, which are among the few rainforests in North America. He decided to undertake the series presented here in an attempt to reproduce his own initial visceral reaction to the sight. As such, he photographed in color at eye level, using natural light and an 8 x 10 camera. The results are a stunning ode to the sheer wild power of nature. Ueda clearly sees a raw sensuality in the dusky rainforest, where velvety blankets of moss cover the ground from which hulking ancient trees emerge.

In his foreword, the Artist describes:

"After the shoot, as first Osako, then Gary took turns looking through the viewfinder, I heard him utter: 'Virgin forest.' And very well said it was. For even as I trembled at what I had seen, might not the forest itself have also trembled at being seen?"

Amidst the towering giants, tangled growth and fallen trees decay in a mirror of humanity. Overall, it is the untamed life-force of the forest, bathed in such an eerie light, that lends these photographs their gravity. Ueda has done a magnificent job recreating the experience of standing, humbled, amidst this vast and dark corner of the world.

This title is in NEW condition, and still under publisher's wraps. It is a large softcover book with pictorial boards and flaps, no dust jacket, as issued. This book is beautifully printed on heavy matte paper, and includes text by the Artist. The book is unpaged, but has 39 four-color illustrations. The book measures a large 10 ¼ x 14 ¼ inches.