Verbotene Bäume / Forbidden Trees

During the pandemic, photographer Maarten Brinkman took to wandering the forests around Amsterdam. The temporary lack of physical contact was filled by the presence of the many beech trees. But he quickly noticed that certain trees, with their arrangements of limbs, clefts, creases, and whorls, actually seem “erotic” in nature. Perhaps the trees trust that no one will observe their unabashed behaviour. Maybe they do not care that everyone can admire them in their full glory, or maybe they secretly enjoy it. With ‘Forbidden trees’, any trepidation vanishes and Brinkman reveals it all. The book opens the way for voyeuristically exploring natural variations that seem just a step too far.