Antonio Fernandez's Image

Huge branches hung eerily in the mist of the forest, and among them was this one hanging from a tilo tree. ‘With ferns growing all along it,’ says Antonio, ‘it was like a forest within a forest’. The breeze stirred up the fog, frustrating Antonio’s desire for a uniformly intense background. But then it dropped, and his simple composition stood out against pure white.

The mighty tilo tree can reach more than 40 metres tall, and only grows in Madeira and the Canary Islands. Most of the miniature forest on this branch is the hare’s foot fern, with broad, finely divided fronds. Like other epiphytic plants it takes water and nutrients from the air, rain or plant debris and relies on the branch for support.