This photograph shows an entirely charred tree, standing like a dark sculpture on the dry mineral floor of Kawah Ijen. Its branches, twisted by the heat and wind, hint at the brutal history of the fires and the sulphurous fumes that eat away and dry up all life near the crater. Yet all around, we see surprisingly resilient vegetation: low shrubs, flowering cushions, small fleshy leaves that thrive despite the poor, burnt, cracked, almost hostile soil. The light comes from above, contrasting the total darkness of the branches with the soft luminosity of the sky, where shades of blue, grey and white blend together without violence. The atmosphere is suspended, almost silent, as if the landscape were still being rebuilt after the volcanic eruption. This scene admirably conveys the duality of Ijen: a place where destruction rubs shoulders with permanent rebirth, where fire marks the forms and nature returns, slowly but surely. The black tree thus becomes a symbol: of burnt memory, but also of the persistence of life in an extreme environment.
Passionate about photography, I travel the world in search of the most beautiful shots.
Currently in Thailand..
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