Shinrin-Yoku
Living in cities leads us to detach ourselves from Nature, tending to idealize it. We experiment it from the place of a distant observer, creating a kind of postcard in our imagination, like when we see the landscape from a distant point or when we use our phone to photograph it. What we see turns into an almost unreachable object and we deprive ourselves from having immersive experiences, even if we are in natural environments.
Shinrin-yoku means “Forest Bathing” in Japanese. This activity consists in taking walks in Nature, concentrating your attention in the senses: perceiving the smell of flowers and the moist earth, listening to the birds singing and the rustling of leaves, observing how light changes the landscape with time, feeling the heat of the sun and the coolness of shadow. Rest, breath, contemplate. Stop thinking and start feeling. Forest Bathing is a simple and profound way to connect with Nature, submerging in it instead of looking at it from the distance.
These photographs, taken in Arboretum Lussich in Uruguay, tackle this detachment we have from Nature. The idea is to take the observer to the heart of the Forest, seeking to inspire people to rediscover the landscape by immersing in it, strengthening the connection with the natural world.
