Saving the forests through photos

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Saving the forests through photos

Frenchman's love of natural world helps raise environmental awareness

 

By ASAKO MURAKAMI

Staff writer

 

KYOTO -- The blue mushrooms in the Australian state of Tasmania seemed like

windows onto the soul of the forest to French photographer and

environmentalist Jerome Hutin.

 

" It was like they were keeping an eye on the rain forest, which faces

destruction, " the 33-year old said. He now plans to use an image of the blue

mushrooms he captured as the logo for his planned environmental foundation.

 

It was not the first time a photographic trip to a forest has left Hutin

awestruck.

 

Since 1998, he has visited places including Italy, Canada, Mexico, Chile,

Australia, New Zealand and India to photograph ancient trees, some as old as

10,000 years. In Mexico, for instance, a cypress he caught on film was both

the oldest and biggest, with a diameter of 58 meters. He came to Japan for

the first time in January. Since then, he has traveled to Sendai, Higashine

in Yamagata Prefecture and Nagoya.

 

On Yakushima Island, 60 km south of the southernmost point of Kyushu, he

snapped a deer in front of a 7,200-year-old Jomon cedar tree in the morning

mist. In 1993, Yakushima Island was the first of two Japanese locations

added to the United Nations World Heritage List.

 

Hutin has always felt an affinity with nature and wildlife and combined that

love with photography in 1998. Realizing that old trees are respected and

worshipped in many cultures, he believed photographing them would help

people understand the importance of protecting the forest giants and the

ecosystem surrounding them.

 

" By showing people my pictures of old trees, I would like to educate people "

on the importance of protecting the environment, he said.

 

But it is not an easy task. In many places, he has seen stark evidence that

old growth forests are disappearing and excessive garbage and pollution are

damaging a delicately balanced ecosystem.

 

According to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, the global rate of

deforestation averaged 9 million hectares per year during the 1990s.

 

The Washington-based think tank the World Resources Institute revealed in

its report last September a widespread decline in the condition of the

world's ecosystems. The study showed 9 percent of the world's tree species

face extinction and tropical deforestation probably exceeds 130,000 sq. km

per year, with 30 percent of the world's original forests having been

converted to agriculture. But Hutin is not overly pessimistic, as he has met

many people in the world who share his affinity with nature. To inform and

encourage others to act against the destruction of nature, he plans to hold

a photographic exhibition showing life-size images of trees through a

projector.

 

" Many people cannot see such old trees in the world. By showing life-size

photos, people can understand their magnificence and know what's happening

to them, " he said.

 

He is calling on businesses, organizations and individuals to fund his

project, which will cost about $5 million.

 

" It may sound like a lot of money, but we spend so much on weapons. Why not

spare some money for my project? " he asked.

 

Hutin's free slide shows will be in Kyoto on Friday between 7 p.m. and 9

p.m. at Butter Cup, a coffee shop in Sakyo Ward (075-751-9537), and on

Sunday between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. at Cafe Independants in Sanjo

(075-255-4312).

 

Hutin's work and his projects can be seen on his Web site at

www.rhoenline.de/jerome/

 

The Japan Times: Mar. 15, 2001

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