beyond the forest

beyond the forestby

clare richardson

about a peoplebelieved to be the descendants of the children

that were led out of hamelin

beyond the forest

HE lives in a world of silence. A world of hard work and necessary

patience; waiting on the weather and growth.They call him Mr Pipe, a

diabetic, water passes straight through him. His mother worries he shall

never marry. He loved the butcher’s daughter once, but her father sold

the mountain. Claiming the common ground, he felled the forest and

sold the oak. A rich man now, his daughter should marry well, a

businessman from the town, perhaps. Spurned, the boy strung up a

lifeless scarecrow in his own image, a reminder to the girl of her

father’s betrayal.

The butcher’s wife says the photographer is barren, and has come to

buy children to operate her domestic machines. She welcomes the

photographer, preparing a meal with the greatest of care and measure.

The forest taken, the horizon is restored. It offers no shelter now.

An emptying landscape. As claims are made, fences erected and the

horizon breached. Only Mr Pipe remains, the others have now gone,

they spoke of a life beyond the forest.

THANK you to Mr Pipe,The Rad family, Ed Thornton, Kathleen Herbert, Brian

Dowling, Alex Bradley, Andrew Mania, Stephen Male, Michael Mack, Gerhard

Steidl,The Arts Council and the Mihai Eminescu Trust.

Special thanks to John Spinks

First Edition 2007

Photographs © Clare Richardson 2007

Text © Clare Richardson 2007

Cover Illustration © Andrew Mania 2007

For this Edition © Steidlmack 2007

Production and Printing by Steidl

Steidlmack

Düstere Str. 4

d–37073 Göttingen Germany

Phone + 49 551 49 60 60

Fax + 49 551 49 60 649

Mail@steidl.de www.steidl.de www.steidlville.com

isbn 978–3–86521–404–1