In the modern world, parched of ritual and starved of mystery, we don't register these communicative moments as often as we might. The idea of a conversation with a landscape is foreign to minds schooled in the separation of humans and nature. Well-seen photographs, wrought in the attuned moment, can help us renew the connection. They invite us to the necessary work of addressing the land.
An edited extract reproduced with permission from Spirit of the South by Andris Apse.
The article is so very worth reading. I miss the wilderness here in Belgium. It is one of those lands that have been peopled forever - New Zealand's precise opposite perhaps.
I'm off to Genova soon. It can't come too soon. I miss the Ligurian sea, the hills that almost surround the city, the caruggi and the people too.
And the espresso. How could I forget the espresso.
But a photograph I found when I was back home in New Zealand. I was photographing the hot pools in Rotorua and captured a Taniwha.
What else could it be ... Taniwha are supernatural creatures whose forms and characteristics vary according to different tribal traditions. Though supernatural, in the Māori world view they were seen as part of the natural environment. Taniwha have been described as fabulous monsters that live in deep water. Others refer to them as dragons – many taniwha looked like reptiles, had wings and ate people. They could also take the shape of animals such as sharks, whales, octopuses, or even logs. Some taniwha could change their shape, moving between different forms.