Albarran Cabrera: On Listening to Trees

Spanish artists duo Albarrán Cabrera have a special relationship with nature. A source of inspiration, a photographic subject or an almost unreal setting, nature is always present in one way or another in their images. Like a common thread running through their work, trees are often represented. This title examines how their work explores the relationship between man and nature, featuring allusions to literature in particular the work of Herman Hesse. A text by author and agronomist, Yves Darricau, on man’s historical complicity with trees through the ages, now endangered, completes the book celebrating their presence in our world.

Albarrán Cabrera’s poetic universe invites us to immerse ourselves in nature, in the land of trees. Time, memory and the beauty of the ephemeral are themes that run through their work. The series as a whole is expressed through a diversity of forms and locations, from solitary trees to lush vegetation, but also through very different photographic processes and textures. These images alternate between a palette of vivid colors, bordering on abstraction, and more monochrome or mordant tones, evoking a certain melancholy but also the fragility of the moment. Gold leaf sometimes enhances the composition, when a trace of silver doesn’t underline a reflection, plunging us into timeless landscapes. The result is a dreamlike, almost surreal world, unique to the Spanish duo.

Far from idealizing nature, the photographers aim to magnify what already exists, taking us on a unique chromatic journey, combining an exceptional printing technique that only they are capable of inventing.Two texts by German novelist, poet and painter Hermann Hesse punctuate this visual corpus. A text by Yves Darricau, agricultural engineer and author, tells the story of the relationship between man and trees, from prehistoric times to the present day, and how each has contributed to the development of the other in a relationship of interdependence that is now under threat. Through this work, the artists make us aware of the importance of trees facing the challenges of our time.