In photos: honouring the remnants of America’s ancient forests

Hailing from Holyoke, Massachusetts, photographer Mitch Epstein came of age during the height of mid-century American suburbia. Just beyond the perfectly manicured residential developments of his childhood lay the majestic Berkshires, a northern segment of the Appalachian Mountains that have become the hallmark of New England’s picaresque landscape for centuries.

“The forests of the Berkshires beckoned as an escape as I got older in the ‘50s and ‘60s,” Epstein says. “By the time I reached adolescence, I was uncomfortable with the suburban built environment. Nature was a place to get lost in; it was chaos and rejuvenating in a way that felt welcome, and not alien.”

Epstein later returned to the land of his childhood while researching a new project exploring the trees that had inspired New England writers like Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, and Robert Frost. He entered the Mohawk Trail State Forest with an 8x10 field camera and lenses in his backpack, no gear, and little hiking experience, for an encounter that would change his life.

Epstein left the forest with a vision that would become Old Growth, his 17th monograph and exhibition now on view at Yancey Richardson in New York. The series brings together photographs made between 2017-2024, crafting an exquisite portrait of America’s last ancient woodlands.

Since the invasion of European colonisers 500 years ago, more than 95% of indigenous forests have been destroyed. Now protected by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, the remaining old-growth forests contain trees older than the nation itself, dating back hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

Epstein photographed these American majesties with reverence and respect, allowing us to see both literally and metaphorically the forest through the trees. Here we see “superstars” like the giants of California’s legendary Sequoia National Park and the fabled Joshua trees of Cima Dome in the Mojave National Preserve, alongside the lesser-known bald cypresses that rise from the Black River in Cape Fear, North Carolina.

“I was out on trails, sometimes walking several miles a day with gear on my back and it gave me a greater respect for what the frontier photographers did back in 19th century,” Epstein says.

“I made three trips to make photographs in the ancient bristlecone pine forest in White Mountains of California,” he continues pointing to the scenes of wizened trees sprouting from mountainous terrain. “It's impossible to describe the utter enchantment and other worldliness of this landscape, with trees that have lived for thousands of years, in what seems like inhospitable set of circumstances.”

The exhibition also includes Forest Waves, a new multi-channel video and sound installation that brings viewers in the Berkshires as the seasons change, immersing them in the experience with soundscapes by tonal musicians Mike Tamburo and Samer Ghadry made iin these same woods.

“There's the mystery of wilderness, but there's also the profound science that we still have so much to learn from,” Epstein says. “If we don't protect a little bit does remain, we're really just shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Mitch Epstein: Old Growth is on view September 5–October 19, 2024 at Yancey Richardson in New York. The series will be on view in a solo exhibition at Gallerie d’Italia in Turin, Italy from October 16, 2024–March 2, 2025. The book is published by Steidl.