{"id":822204,"date":"2025-12-02T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=822204"},"modified":"2025-12-02T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T10:00:00","slug":"these-photos-show-a-profoundly-hopeful-side-to-rainforest-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=822204","title":{"rendered":"These photos show a \u2018profoundly hopeful\u2019 side to rainforest life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Stefan Dotter, Record<\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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\"Record<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
\"Record<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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\"Record<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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Gallery \/ 10 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe must ask ourselves if we can truly fathom the disappearance of something we have never seen,\u201d writes Elaine ML Tam in the introduction to <\/span>Record<\/span><\/em><\/a>, a new monograph by the Tokyo-based photographer Stefan Dotter designed by Jonny Lu Studio. It\u2019s a thought-provoking quote, and in this case it refers to the deforestation that\u2019s devastated many of the world\u2019s rainforests \u2013 something that affects all of us, even if we\u2019re thousands of miles away and have never laid eyes on their flora and fauna. <\/span>Record<\/span><\/em>, however, shows us that \u201cprofoundly hopeful\u201d things are happening beyond our limited horizons as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cClimate action, environmental protection, and especially reforestation are very abstract concepts if you haven\u2019t seen them firsthand,\u201d the photographer tells Dazed. \u201cWe are highly engaged with countless global issues, and we hold opinions about everything, yet we mostly experience the world through screens. Being there, in the lungs of the planet, is humbling. Seeing deforestation is heartbreaking. But standing inside a 15-meter-high forest that was completely reforested, where nothing existed just 13 years ago, is profoundly hopeful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dotter pieced the project together over four years, working with the non-profit organisation Health in Harmony<\/a>, which provides vital services for Indigenous (and often remote) communities in areas affected by deforestation, in exchange for reforestation work and rainforest protection services.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Record<\/span><\/span>
Photography Stefan Dotter<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The connection with Health in Harmony began in the Brazilian Amazon in 2021, at the tail end of his Hope<\/em> initiative, which helped evacuate photography students from Afghanistan to Brazil, and he stayed in close contact with Health in Harmony in the years that followed, eventually visiting their sites across the world. \u201cTheir work was fascinating to me, and radically different from most organisations I had worked with,\u201d he says. \u201cIt reminds you that not everything humans do is destructive \u2013 that coexistence is possible, and tangible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The photographs in <\/span>Record <\/span><\/em>document Dotter\u2019s time embedded in the rainforest communities of the Amazon, Borneo, and Madagascar during this time, capturing the people, trees, insects, and occasional monkeys that crossed his path. Designed by Jonny Lu Studio, the book itself draws inspiration from natural science documents and 20th-century field journals, also featuring Dotter\u2019s essays and observational notes. All proceeds from the book will go directly to Health In Harmony.<\/span><\/p>\n

Below, Dotter tells us more.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Record<\/span><\/span>
Photography Stefan Dotter<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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You travelled far and wide to bring <\/strong>Record <\/em><\/strong>together. What did your life look like during this time?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stefan Dotter: <\/strong>I wasn\u2019t continuously traveling for this project \u2013 it unfolded over four years. But being a climate-action project, budgets were, of course, limited. So it was just me, a Mamiya RZ67, three lenses, a bag of film, and a tripod for each of the three-week trips. I slept in hammocks along the Amazon, on boats in Borneo, and spent countless hours in a jeep going off-road in Madagascar. Life was very different indeed.<\/span><\/p>\n

How did you select the locations and communities featured in the project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stefan Dotter:<\/strong>All of the locations in the book are places where Health in Harmony is active. Among other things, the NGO focuses on providing healthcare to Indigenous and remote communities in regions heavily affected by deforestation. In the Amazon, I travelled on a small boat with a dentist whose entire portable clinic fit into two suitcases, moving from community to community to provide care. Every community shown in the book is one that collaborates with Health in Harmony.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Record<\/span><\/span>
Photography Stefan Dotter<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Did you learn anything from these communities, about the relationship between humans and nature, that might prove surprising to a more \u2018western\u2019 audience?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stefan Dotter:<\/strong>I think the matters at hand are far more pragmatic in these places. Yes, people have a deep, spiritual relationship with nature \u2013 a mutual respect between people and forest \u2013 but it\u2019s less romantic than some might imagine. What I\u2019ve always loved most is how knowledgeable everyone is, and how that knowledge is passed down. It\u2019s autumn now in my neighbourhood in Tokyo, with leaves of every colour drifting around. I couldn\u2019t tell you which trees they\u2019re from. That lack of basic knowledge about the plants and trees immediately around me feels almost embarrassing now \u2013 and I plan to learn more about my local flora and fauna.<\/span><\/p>\n

The project benefits Health in Harmony. Why was it important to make this material, financial commitment, beyond just documenting and highlighting their work?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stefan Dotter:<\/strong>It\u2019s a circular project, in a way. The book was made with the support of a grant from Future Being, and the photographs were created in collaboration with the communities and the NGO. I\u2019m grateful for the experience, and I think it\u2019s important to make a <\/span>record<\/span><\/em> of these places \u2013 to show the beauty that exists, and the beauty we risk losing. Having all profits flow back into the work, into the forest, and into the communities is the only thing that makes sense to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Record<\/a>by Stefan Dotter is designed by Jonny Lu Studio<\/a> and was produced in support of\u00a0Health In Harmony<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Source URL: https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69196\/1\/stefan-dotter-photos-profoundly-hopeful-life-rainforest-record-health-in-harmony<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stefan Dotter, Record Gallery \/ 10 images \u201cWe must ask ourselves if we can truly fathom the disappearance of something we have never seen,\u201d writes Elaine ML Tam in the introduction to Record, a new monograph by the Tokyo-based photographer Stefan Dotter designed by Jonny Lu Studio. It\u2019s a thought-provoking quote, and in this case […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":822205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-822204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=822204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/822205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=822204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=822204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=822204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}