Passion for photography often takes Neil Burnell to remote areas with stunning sceneries. For his ongoing project Mystical, he photographed an incredible Wistman’s Wood in England. The name of this wood reportedly means “eerie” or “haunted,” and looking at the images, I sure understand why. Neil’s photos look like illustrations of fairy-tales, and it’s easy to imagine fairies dancing around tangled, gnarled, moss-covered trees.
In the description of his project, Neil points out that many writers have described the wood as being “the most haunted place on Dartmoor.” There have been scary stories about mythical creatures living in this magical place. Still, none of this could keep the photographer away. As a matter of fact, he has visited the place around 20 times so far in order to make the photos he would be pleased with.
As he told to Colossal, Neil often visits the wood at “blue hour” in the morning. And out of 20 times he has been there, there were only two times when there as the mist he needed for the atmosphere. “Photographing it without the mist/fog is a hard task and almost impossible to make images with the atmosphere I am looking for,” the photographer explained. And if you ask me, it was definitely worth it revisiting the forest so many times.
I have enjoyed these photos so much because they remind me of some old folk tales about fairies I listened and read in my childhood. Since this is an ongoing project, there are more photos to come, and I’m looking forward to it.
Neil is an award-winning fine art photographer from Devon, England. He originally studied Art and Photography at College in the early ’90s and went into graphic design. However, he has recently discovered a love for landscape and fine art photography. You can view photos from this project on Neil’s website, but also make sure to check out more of his wonderful work. Also, follow Neil on his Facebook page, Instagram, Flickr, and Behance.
[via Colossal]
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