Author: Bernard Bolter

Photographs by Jorge Albella

The limitless variety of plants, animals and microorganisms that make up the forest, give rise to a whole cosmos in which – despite its complexity – everything works in harmony.

The different species of trees also interact by helping each other, sending nutrients, water, carbon and even signals, through the subsoil, where fungal threads connect the roots of the trees, (as Suzanne Simard, professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia, has discovered after decades of studies.)

The harmony of this cosmos of living beings, is the wheel that continues since millions of years, in which each creature has its own function, taking part as a member of a great band that originates the eternal symphony.

For most human beings who live in cities or modern areas, where the struggle for production and survival (within our cultural canons) is inevitable, this “symphony” sounds strange, because any natural factor from any organism, or from the human beings themselves that alters our habitat “competing” for resources, feels like an “invasion” to fight, or a conflict which could easily bring us into chaos.

Perhaps after enjoying the beauty of the strange symphony of the forest, for its colors, its forms, its immensity, humans should also learn a little from it, if we want that our habitat will continue in harmony and for a long time.

After many years living in Berlin, I had the wonderful possibility to take some train and scape to different forests around Brandenburg. It’s a perfect place to have endless walks by paths, meditating, observing the dark deepness of the forest and listening to the sounds of the nature.

Jorge Albella is a self-taught photographer from Madrid. Since adolescence he has been involved with photography, however after viewing “Invisible Man” by Jeff Wall in 2001, he decided to immerse himself deeper into his photographic journey. He moved to Berlin, where he currently resides.

His photography explores urban landscapes and the social transformations that occur within those areas.
Additional works include a visual experiment conceptualising “travelling and borders” (Behind the Window, 2003 – 2013), as well as aspects of nature, paths and solitude (Camina en silencio, no mires atrás, 2011 – 2013).

Exhibitions
2012 – Loophole Berlin, Berlin, (duo exhibition).
2012 – Die Frühperle, Berlin, (duo exhibition).
2014 – Royal Geographical Society, London, (Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year, group exhibition).
2014 – Wyre Community Discovery Centre, Kidderminster, England, (group exhibition)
2014 – Grizedale Visitor Center (Forestry Commission), Cumbria, England, (group exhibition)

Education
1997 – Draftsman Designer (Urban Projects), Graphic Arts. Escuela Oficial de Artes Gráficas “Islas Filipinas”, Madrid

www.jorge-albella.com