Bark: An Intimate Look at the World’s Trees

Tree´s: Beautiful on the inside, and on the outside.

A French photographer by the name of Cedric Pollet has the lovely job of traveling around the world, and taking photos of the most beautiful bark he stumbles upon. Perhaps it is the job of a photographer to zoom in on life´s small details and make the ordinary seem extraordinary. Pollet´s photos of bark highlight the incredible amount of biodiversity and the world, and show that no tree is really the same — each has its own personality and characteristics.

Bark on a tree is similar to skin, as it protects the tree from natural elements, adds sturdiness to the plant, and helps keep the tree hydrated. Bark is also helpful in warding off diseases, fungi, and mammals, and does a wonderful job protecting the tree from drying out. Not only is bark useful for the tree, but we often utilize it in our daily lives and with objects we use – such as cinnamon, cork, chewing gum, and rubber.

Aside from practical uses, bark is rich and beautiful and often filled with layers of texture and color which only an artist could dream up. Cedric Pollet´s book “Bark: An Intimate Look at the World’s Trees,” is one of the first that truly showcases the beauty of an often ignored part of the tree.

“To whet people’s enthusiasm, I thought it was important to find ways to surprise and move them, by treating bark in a completely new way, at once aesthetic and playful.” ~ Cedric Pollet

Pollet has accumulated more than 20,000 images of tree bark from more than 500 species! “Bark is an absolutely vital part of a tree, often overlooked and yet so magical, it reveals, to those who know how to look, a surprising and infinite pictorial diversity.”
At Bios Urn we often focus on the inherent beauty present in trees, but we should also make note of how beautiful the whole of the tree is.
There are so many beautiful trees in the world, and each has its own story to tell.