Lisbeth Dreyer

Tales of trees

Trees have always meant a lot to us humans. We admire them when they bloom in spring and when they don their fiery colors in autumn. We walk past them, hide behind them, lie in their shade and carve messages into them.

It is impossible to travel through Norway without seeing the trees. They are like old friends who have always been there. We see them every single day, walking or driving past them. Some we have noticed. They are magnificent, special, ancient; each has its own story, we sense it, but we don’t know it.

Tales of Trees is a book that opens our eyes to the trees around us, both through evocative images and engaging texts. Author and photographer Lisbeth Dreyer has traveled the country in search of trees – quirky trees, rare trees, and beautiful trees. Trees that have meant something to someone. Trees that tell us something about ourselves.

For trees are not just forests, nor just wood and timber or fodder. Some trees are sacred and mystical, shrouded in legend. Some trees are for decoration. Some trees are biological marvels. The trees and how we have placed them in the landscape, how we have cared for them, and how we perceive them reflect both time, history, and values.

Through fantastic and unique imagery from all seasons, alongside a curious and narrative text, we get to know the trees in the Norwegian landscape in an entirely new way. As a reader, you inevitably start to wonder: What trees do I have around me, and what can they tell?