This past spring, I was asked by the Society for the Protection of Prespa if I would be interested in photographing the rivers, streams and waterside forests of Prespa as part of a project called ‘Prespa’s Green and Blue Lifelines’. The idea intrigued me from the very beginning, in large part because it would entail a focussed interaction with my local waterways. Although these were flows that I felt I knew, this was an opportunity for greater immersion. To engage with these waters on a far more intimate level.
In his book, About This Life, the great American writer Barry Lopez describes the difference between writing about water, light and wood in his attic room overlooking the McKenzie River in Oregon and the actuality of physically experiencing them. “Up there in that room, as I see it, is the reading and the thinking-through, a theory of rivers, of trees moving, of falling light. Here on the river, as I lurch against a freshening in the current, is the practice of rivers.” Taking my cue from Lopez, I bought a pair of hip waders and began tracing the six rivers and streams of Prespa from their mountain sources to the plain where they empty into the lakes.
Entering these flows, I felt the cold immediacy of the water, the ripplings and rushings of it around me. I learned the textures of tree, stone and sand as I braced against them. I was absorbed by reflections and radiances, like the river oaks whose young leaves were pools of glowing light. In the clear currents, masses of pale tree roots waved like ghostly tresses of hair. Tree canopies were mirrored upwards, like signals being bounced between satellites. Frogs gleamed within streams like they were sealed inside ice and dragonfly nymphs crawled free to continue their path towards flight.
At times it felt like I was experiencing entirely different parts of the world, as when a crystal course studded by dark firs and roofed by greening beeches seemed more like the Sierra Nevada of California than northern Greece. Or when slow seepings created such a humid tangle of vines, mosses and fungi that it resembled a lush tropical rainforest. But this, of course, is part of what makes Prespa so unique: the extraordinary spectrum of habitats held within a single watershed. And its green and blue lifelines are no less diverse in their astonishing range of expressions.
With these photos, I’ve tried to move beyond a theory of rivers. These are the practice of water, wood and light.
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Julian Hoffman 
Have you read Alice Oswald’s *Dart*, Julian? It’s a poem that’s voices of a river.
She is wonderful.
Lucy
Hi Lucy – yes, Dart is an absolutely magnificent work! I love Alice Oswald’s writing.
Warmest wishes,
Julian
I heard Dart spoken on the radio, I forget who by, and the tape has gone to a friend, but it was great.
Ah, I’ve never heard it being read so I really must try and track this down. Thanks so much for the tip!
Alice Oswald read an extract of her poem on radio 4sthe Verb 2 weeks ago. Great show if you love poetry
Thank you! I’ll see if it’s still available to listen to online.
Hi Julian
Lovely to hear from you, this looks beautiful and the intro reads so well, look forward to digesting it when I have a moment.
Best
Paddy
Paddy Woodworth Research Associate, Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis. Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Languages and Literatures, University College, Dublin. Author, journalist, lecturer, cultural/environmental tour guide. http://www.paddywoodworth.com http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo8312323.html
+353 (0)86 8120842 22 Manor Place
StoneybatterDublin 7Ireland
EIRCODE D07 X7H2
Thanks again Julian, had some time to absorb these images now, they offer an enviable reflection of your glorious streamscapes!
Best
Paddy
Paddy Woodworth Research Associate, Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis. Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Languages and Literatures, University College, Dublin. Author, journalist, lecturer, cultural/environmental tour guide. http://www.paddywoodworth.com http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo8312323.html
+353 (0)86 8120842 22 Manor Place
StoneybatterDublin 7Ireland
EIRCODE D07 X7H2
Hi Paddy, so wonderful to read these comments of yours and I’m so pleased that you enjoyed the post. I was thinking of you only the other day when recommending your book to someone who’d asked me about ecological restoration. Hope all is well with you. I haven’t given up on our idea to meet in Ireland at some point and finally catch up in person again. With a new book out soonish, maybe I’ll make it there on the back of it with a bit of luck and finally put the plan in motion!
Warmest wishes from here,
Julian