Tucked away from the echo of modern life lies a pocket of stillness — a quiet woodland where green giants rise like guardians of peace. This photograph captures a moment of near-sacred stillness: a stand of trees mirrored perfectly in the untouched surface of a small forest pond. There is no ripple, no rush — only reflection. And in that reflection, a story unfolds.
I discovered this hidden gem in the Waterloopbos, a remarkable forest in the Dutch province of Flevoland. Once the site of hydraulic research, it has now become a Rijksmonument — a protected place where science has given way to silence and where nature has reclaimed its voice. On a crisp morning near Marknesse, I walked beneath a canopy of green, with the soft ground damp from dawn. The air was clean, the world still.
What struck me wasn’t just the composition—the elegant symmetry of the trees and their liquid twins—but the emotion it stirred. It felt like standing at the edge of two worlds—one real, one imagined —a place where time folds in on itself and asks you to breathe.
Through my lens, I seek to capture not just what we see but what we feel in nature—awe, calm, wonder. This image is more than a landscape. It’s an invitation—a reminder that beneath the noise of everyday life, there is a quieter world waiting to welcome us back.
In this forest, reflected in still water, silence speaks. And if you listen closely, you just might hear your own heartbeat echoing in the trees.
