Ancient olive trees

I spent eleven days traveling through the old olive groves of Greece with my camera. Along the way, I encountered ancient olive trees — some of them over 1.500 years old. I ventured out in the early morning hours, and the more I immersed myself in the presence of these colossal figures, the more they seemed to "tell" their stories. They have survived and endured for so many centuries, yet today they face a serious threat from mass tourism.

Approaching these giants in the silence triggers a kind of wild, eidetic perception: faces of animals and humans, gnomes and skeletons, wide-open eyes and gaping mouths emerge from the trunks; one imagines hearing silent screams and witnessing a *danse macabre* performed by the giants.
This photographic encounter was both eerie and fascinating. Yet, behind all these bizarre — and at first glance, grotesque—sculptural forms, one can discern profound beauty and wisdom. It evokes a sort of "E.T." effect: a lovable, botanical alien accidentally left behind on Earth. These unique photographs of olive trees invite abstract and eidetic interpretation, lending an extraordinary aura to any space.