Songs of the Taiga
Nora Schwarz’s bachelor’s project explores the silent disappearance of boreal primeval forests in Sweden.
In Sweden, the last primeval and natural forests in Europe are quietly but profoundly disappearing. These largely untouched continuity forests are part of the boreal taiga – the lungs of the north – and are crucial for biodiversity, climate protection and the way of life of the Indigenous Sámi. Since the mid-20th century, large-scale logging has turned species-rich ecosystems into forestry plantations, leading to habitat loss, declining species and the release of carbon.
Songs of the Taiga makes this transformation visible and shows people whose lives, work or culture depend on intact forests and who campaign to protect them. Schwarz invites us to engage with these landscapes, to question our own ideas of the forest – and to explore a relationship based not on the idea of nature as a mere resource but on reciprocity and connection.
Norrbotten, Sweden. Photo: Nora Schwarz
A primeval forest in a protected area near Vuollerim in Norrbotten. Only eight to nine per cent of Sweden’s forests are protected. According to studies, at least 20 per cent would be needed to preserve many species. From the series ‘Songs of the Taiga’.
Photo: Nora Schwarz
Photo: Nora Schwarz
