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Quinault.
Photographs and text by Yoshihiko Ueda.
Seigensha,
Kyoto,
2003.
Unpaged,
39 four-color illustrations,
10¼x14¼".
To the immediate West of Seattle lies the Olympic National
Park, home of two of North America's few genuine rain forests. The Quinault and Hoh Rain Forest are known as the "Valleys of the Rain Forest Giants", with an annual rainfall average of up to 400 inches that provides a moisture rich environment in which trees grow to record sizes. In the summer of 1990, while on assignment scouting locations to photograph models, Ueda "experienced a strange, but unfocused moment of vision" that caused him to consider, for the first time, photographing the forest itself. That brief moment led to a prolonged sojourn, the following spring, with an 8 x 10 camera and color film. The images make use of a simple eye level vantage point, and amply convey what it is like to wander through the forests, to pause at times to take in a fallen tree covered with moss, or to stand still amidst the undergrowth. Ueda has printed the work so as
to emphasize the blue tint to the light and the deepness of
the shadows, a perfect complement to his original experience.
The overall effect is one of shared participation on the part of the viewer. The production of the book is magnificent, with the images printed on a heavy matt paper; it is well worth the price.
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