Andrea Mantovani

Bialowieza Forest - The Song of Swan

On the border of Belarus in the far Northeastern part of Poland lies one of the oldest natural forests in Europe, the primal forest named Białowieża. As though cut off from the rest of the world, the concerns of modern society seemed almost absent until recent times. The beginning of 2016 marked a new era for the forest as it rapidly became one of the most widely broadcasted environmental conflicts in Europe. The ancient forest, having been protected by European legislation and UNESCO as a biosphere reserve and world heritage site since 1979, was now being threatened by logging. A group of environmental activists living in the forest has been one of the only defence mechanisms against the devastation of this illegal logging, who over the past two years have encountered 187 lawsuits against them. In July of 2017, the court of Justice of the EU ordered an immediate stop to the logging happening in areas protected by the Natura 2000 network. A fine of 100,000 Euros per day is imposed on the Polish government until the logging ceases to continue. Logging continued until December 2017.

Andrea Mantovani

With a geography background, I travelled through Europe working on environmental and social issues. In 2015, I decided to devote myself professionally to photography. I incorporate both an assortment of technology and personal writings to trigger an intimate approach to my subjects. My goal is to challenge the reality that society claims, and instead, reflect on the natural interactions of humans and territory. A cross between a documentary and an author's work, I work for international press and personal project. My photographic essays have led to live in Canada, Jamaica, Mexico and Poland. Since 2016, she is member of HANS LUCAS.