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What is there in the wood?
Is it safe to enter it alone?
Will I meet a bear? (Have you ever seen a mother and a cub?)
Is there a wolf in the wood? (Do wolves eat people?)
I'd like to walk in a morning wood. Is a night wood frightening?
How should I do if I get lost in the wood?
Who is in charge of the wood?
How is a rainy day?
Did you see a fairy?
Tell me secrets of the wood.
> What is there in the wood?
The wood is filled with the atmosphere of something existing. It is in varied form from visible to invisible to the eye. You would feel it everywhere in the wood.
> Is it safe to enter it alone?
It could be dangerous. But, You would see more animals and find more things going into the wood alone. When you are in the wood with somebody, your attention tends to be paid to the person naturally. I think there is something you are able to feel only when you are on your own.
> Will I meet a bear? (Have you ever seen a mother and a cub?)
I have met a big black bear twice. There is a place where the wild orchid named "Showy Lady Slipper" blooms once a year only for a week. I believe both times were the same bear, because I met her at the same place and the same season. Judging from the fact that she scratched all the trees on her way, that place was her territory. At the first time, she got angry with me. It's a very natural behavior to defend her territory. Next time, I found her leaning against a tree. Peeping through the trees, she walked off not knowing my presence. I'm sure that she comes there to check her place this year also. I've never met a mother bear with her cub.
> Is there a wolf in the wood? (Do wolves eat people?)
Quite a number of wolves inhabit in this area. In fact, I see a bunch of foot prints as large as people's palm and droppings including deer's hair. Add to that, the howl of a wolf echoes throughout the wood during night. In spite of the great number, I have never met them in the wood. It would be a trouble to meet a human being for them, I suppose. A wolf eats sheep kept by people. It's unlikely to eat people.
>I'd like to walk in a morning wood. Is a night wood frightening?
The wood is filled with a thicker atmosphere in the morning. Especially the coolest mornings, the wood lies deep in fog which flowed from a near lake. Whenever I go into it, I find myself breathing deeply like a diver. When I go back to my cabin, I am soaking wet.
After the sunset the wood becomes a different world. You had better not to walk in the wood at night without moonlight. Making a fire, I hear the noise of something around me. Although I open my ears to recognize it, I cannot tell what on earth makes that noise. I cannot make out whether it comes from next to me or from far away. Finally I give up to think about it and go to my sleeping bag. During the night occasionally I wake up, look up at the night sky and see the northern lights shinning over. At that time, I wonder how the wild animals feel to see it.
> How should I do if I get lost in the wood?
Who knows the proper answer? Fortunately, I've never gotten lost completely yet. I myself have no idea what to do when it happens. I tremble in fear just imagining spending the night with a numerous army of terrible mosquitoes. Actually, this wood seems similar all over, there are few places to look out over except the top of the trees. Someone told me there are areas which contain a lot of iron, in where a compass doesn't work. What do you think it is what leads us to find the way without the memory of visual perception and tools like compasses? I have a great respect for the wildlife which needs no tools to live.
> Who is in charge of the wood?
An owl preys on small animals like mice and chipmunks. At the same time, the number of owls depend on the number of preys. Also it's a harsh winter for wolves in the year of less deers. The huge pine wood could be blown down by the wind. The wind avoids the strong rock, at the same time as the rock could be cracked by the pine root. It's a difficult question to decide the lord of the wood. It may be the sun because everything is going with its rhythm. Or may be the time.
> How is a rainy day?
Above all, the color is impressive. Getting wet, hidden colors appear. It turns into a deep and rich color. As for the sound, the whole wood sounds like shaking slightly or laughing quietly.
Sitting on a fallen tree in the rain, I feel like sinking into the wood melting with moss forever and ever.
> Did you see a fairy?
Not yet. I often wondered if the night noises were created by fairies. I heard that a creature like a human being but 10cm tall inhabits in the deep wood. I don't know if "fairy" is the word for it. It rides on the back of a raven and a wolf. I know a person who calls it "Mwookie". I believe it's the same creature called "Gnome" in Europe.
> Tell me secrets of the wood.
I'm still looking for them on the rock, under the moss and at the back of the leaves. Please tell me when you find something interesting in my photograph. Honor bright.
The English version of the texts were written by:
Questions: Kazue Daikoku(Happa-no-Kofu)
Answers: Hidehiro Otake
Translation advice by Ruth Foley and Juan Jose Padilla
Hidehiro Otake
Photographer, born in 1975. He has frequently visited the North Wood in Minnesota from 1999. He has lived and taken photographs there. During the time, he made friends with Jim Brandenburg who is a nature photographer and Will Steger who is an adventurer. He returned to Tokyo in April 2002 and he is presenting his works here.
Website: Hedehiro Otkake Photography
Web Press Happa-no-Kofu
Non-profit internet publisher which started in April 2000. They are publishing a lot of works which were bilingual or multilingual collaborations with poets in USA, Europe and Asia. On "Fragments" project they are collecting poems and fragment writings widely, not only the works of professional poets and writers. They also publish paper books called "chapbook" made by using on-demand printing system.
Copyright by Hidehiro Otake
Photograph Copyright by Hidehiro Otake
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