Magic in Euskadi.
The photographs of Leire Unzueta you have to observe them calmly and quietly because that's how the forests that she portrays are. In them, time passes so slowly that it is almost imperceptible and her stillness is magical.
The mythology of the forests of the ** Basque Country ** is almost as intrinsic to them as the fog or the rain. Those who have walked through them calmly may have felt (as in Leire's photos) that at any moment a Basajaun, "the lord of the forest".
Leire Unzueta is an expert in portraying them just as we can imagine them, because that's how they really are. They are so her own because she has known them since she was born. “The Basque Country is my home, I was born in a town called Berriz and I currently live in Durango , Biscay. I have been lucky enough to be able to travel a lot since I was young, so I always thought I would make a life outside of here. Euskadi is a beautiful place but it's always too small for me and every few months I have to go out and see new things. However, I always come back home, and to this day, I no longer have plans to leave”, she explains to Traveler.es.
Leire prefers to photograph at dawn.
Until now, the photographer has combined her hobby by teaching English classes, but the future looks different because in the coming months she will leave languages behind to travel and photograph what she sees.
In her day-to-day life she would get up first thing in the morning to immerse herself for a couple of hours in the dawn of the woods , there she with her camera waited for the perfect light. The result of those moments have been images as wonderful as these.
“I started going for a walk with the camera to different forests for a couple of hours in the mornings and that made me feel good. I think that by repeating myself I grew fond of those moments and places, and that was probably what led me to enjoy this type of photography so much”, she points out when asked about her fondness for photography. landscape photography.
The fog is always the protagonist.
The fog is the common point of the photographs taken on the ground of it. “Dramatic skies or rainy and foggy days have always caught my attention. Probably because here in the north they are like that for many days of the year. That's why I usually go out to shoot with that kind of light and atmosphere. I think that my work reflects the forest as I see it and feel it ”.
Is the Basque forest magical? “Yes, but I think that in general all the nature that surrounds us is . From the sensation of hearing the wind surrounded by trees, the sound of the rain falling inside the forest or when sometimes with luck you come across free animals... all that already makes it magical. The truth is that I am very lucky to live here and have so much forest around me”, she underlines.
Her perfect companion is her van.
The mountains of Gorbea and Urkiola Natural Park They have been the perfect setting for her photographs. The protagonists of her portraits abound in them: beech, birch and oak , but above all Pine trees.
“Sadly, the latter are affected by a disease caused by various fungi that cause them to lose their leaves and the trees to turn reddish or brown. It is a shame and we really hope that they can provide a solution to the problem that is spreading throughout the territory.”
The Gorbea and Urkiola Natural Park has been the perfect setting.