Magnum Photos Blog

Featured Essays 

Trees 

December 9, 2013 
by Raghu Rai 
This photo book is an extraordinary collection of black and white photographs drawn from an archive spanning over forty years. The tree has been one of those enduring subjects, which has been consistently
photographed since the beginning of photography. It has been an object of reverence and awe.
An avid gardener and nature lover, Raghu Rai’s photographs were not made in pursuit of a book or exhibition, which he has made many and had plenty of. Instead, we witness his unrelenting and private passion for a subject he had no option but to make photographs of. In Raghu Rai’s photographs, the tree is idealized for its beauty and mourned when it is destroyed. Through his lens, we experience the tree as a living monument — not only as a graphic symbol, but we also observe human presence around it.