Anthony Froidevaux Photographer
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Monumental trees

When trees rise like cathedrals

The guardian of Otzarreta, an old pollarded beech with mossy roots under the rising sun
The guardian of Otzarreta, an old pollarded beech with mossy roots under the rising sun

Beeches, oaks, chestnuts, centuries-old pollards: trees shaped by time, the elements and the hand of man. I look for their shapes, their gestures, their imperfections — that moment when a tree almost ceases to be a tree and becomes a presence.

Remarkable beech on the slopes of Ibantelli, in the Sare forest Ancient chestnut tree, nearly 800 years old, in Gironde A pollarded beech showing the way, in the Aiako Harria forest A pollarded beech spreads its branches like arms towards the canopy The Nerthe oak, draped in ivy, in the Landes A silhouette at the foot of a giant pollarded beech, in the mist Century-old pollarded beech backlit by the hazy morning light Mossy roots of a pollarded beech in the golden mist

In the journal

The stories behind these images

When trees rise like cathedrals

7 October 2026

When trees rise like cathedrals

Beeches, oaks, centuries-old pollards: why monumental trees hold such a special place in my photography.
Otzarreta, a sleepless night for a few minutes of light

11 October 2026

Otzarreta, a sleepless night for a few minutes of light

Two hours' drive in the dead of night to meet the pollarded beeches of Otzarreta, in the Spanish Basque Country, at the hour when the forest belongs to no one.

Photos from this theme are available as fine art prints.

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