Etienne Renzo has always photographed trees. Trees often associated with humans. So much so that all these trees are beginning to form a forest where the plant and human worlds merge. Sensitive to the call of this forest, Etienne Renzo plans to devote part of his photographic work to creating images and situations that invent a new story of our relationship with trees. This necessarily involves connecting with the different levels of reality in our relationship with trees. Including the magic of trees with their unique energy, which comes through in Etienne Renzo's photography.

The powers of trees
The relationship between humans and trees represents many challenges. Both aesthetic and existential. First and foremost, there are survival issues, in both urban and rural areas, where trees clearly save lives by regulating temperatures during heatwaves. But sometimes they also take lives during violent winds, storms or hurricanes, which are becoming more common in our temperate climates. We also know the beneficial role trees play in air quality by absorbing pollution. Trees also have the power to heal our souls and spirits, which are tested by the frenzy of human activity. This contributes to their magical dimension, which we are currently rediscovering. But how can we experience, photograph and convey the magic of trees?

The magic of trees
Reconsidering trees as living beings, with intelligence or consciousness, and reclaiming them as persons or entities, is part of the process. It also involves reopening the magical space of trees. This is a challenge for our societies, which have closed off or restricted access to it. It takes us back to certain forgotten fundamentals of our own cultures that may be worth restoring. For from one continent to another, humankind has developed an intimate relationship with trees and forests, and some of us still preserve this culture and pass on its buried memories. Memories that can be reactivated through the energetic perception of trees. This is where the magic of trees lies. A magic that is not unrelated to that of images, through the crystallisation of the light they share. Etienne Renzo has experienced this. It is also what he wishes to develop and pass on through his images.

New interactions...
For some, simply observing and looking at a tree, even in a photograph or on a screen, can enable them to interact with it. This surprising phenomenon has been tested by researchers and artists with convincing results. It is not unrelated to the development of new cultures and new energy practices for well-being. Such as forest bathing or tree contact, which Etienne Renzo experienced at the invitation of the Musée de l'Invisible, with which he collaborates. This can compensate for digital over-connection. This suggests new uses for trees, their images and their exhibitions. But is it even possible to connect to the energies of a tree through an image?

... for new series
It would seem so. But above all, it requires experimentation. This is one of the dimensions that Etienne Renzo explores in this project entitled "The Magic Tree", dedicated to trees and humans. Drawing on his experiences that introduced him to the subtle dimensions of trees and forests, he is currently developing a series of images in the form of portraits of trees and feedback from interactions with humans. These are experiments in which photography is no longer just a witness, but becomes an agent, with the photographer becoming a performer and sculptor of situations. This is particularly evident in his practice of contacting the tree, which he can use himself to create his images. It is also a way of connecting with the restorative dimensions common to trees and humans through the medium of the image.

An exhibition in the form of a forest
This is why it is particularly interesting, even important, to disseminate these trees and images. The aim is to show these new series in the form of exhibitions and various types of publications and editions. The exhibition will feature several series of colour or black and white photographs in different formats and media, which will be determined according to the venues and their display walls. Even the surrounding trees. As if replanting trees/images in the form of an indoor forest. And possibly outdoors as well. These exhibitions may be combined with conferences, workshops and joint photography and tree contact workshops. This project is being conducted in collaboration with the Musée de l'Invisible.