Forest reborn captures a moment where nature seems to begin again. From above, a volcanic landscape unfolds like a living painting: dark earth scarred by time, electric-blue glacial water carving new paths, and a luminous golden moss rising like a forest reimagined. The branching forms echo trees without leaves, roots without soil — a reminder that renewal does not always look familiar. Let’s take a closer look at what stood behind the creation of this photograph.

Iceland is known for the fact that its landscape is constantly changing. Glacial rivers and volcanic activity reshape the land year after year, often beyond recognition. Some things disappear, while other beautiful things are born. This process is especially visible in the interior, a place not just anyone ventures into. It is a very hostile environment that resembles entirely different planets.

At times you find yourself on a vast black desert, where there is no trace of any color other than black and white. In those moments, you feel as if you were on the Moon. Shortly after, you pass through an area of red rocks, where it feels like you have just landed on Mars. And finally, you reach places teeming with life—places that connect the past with the present, creation with destruction, death with life. Places where the endless black desert comes to an end and is replaced by glowing moss fields and glacial rivers. And it is exactly such places that I seek during my expeditions to Iceland.

In 2025, I traveled to Iceland four times. Each time, I planned a different route through the country’s interior. And during one of these expeditions, I discovered the place where the photograph “Forest Reborn” was created.

To reach places like these, you need at least three things—determination, courage, and a large, specially modified vehicle capable of crossing deeper, swollen glacial rivers. And that is precisely the kind of vehicle I borrowed from my friends in June 2025. I set aside several days to explore new locations before my clients arrived—clients whom I guide through these fascinating places during my annual photo expeditions and workshops in Iceland. During those few days, I didn’t want to be distracted by civilization, so I decided to sleep in the car or directly outside in the black desert. The conditions were not particularly harsh, so it wasn’t a problem.

The very next day, I set off across the black desert toward Landmannalaugar National Park, also known as the “Rainbow Mountains” because of its extraordinary colors. However, old Icelandic maps also show other routes that led outside this national park to places that have been explored only very little. I took my wife with me, as well as a friend who also loves visiting Iceland’s interior.

After a full day of driving along old, unused roads leading through the black desert and volcanic craters, we stopped at a place where we noticed hints of green moss. I launched my drone to survey the surroundings, as I was searching for scenes where the black desert would meet this rare moss. After a while, I discovered an exceptional composition—the boundary between the black desert and volcanic moss. Along this boundary were very unusual formations that resembled a dried, dead forest. This scene fascinated me. Yet something was still missing. Glacial rivers were needed to strengthen the emotion I wanted to evoke with the photograph—the feeling that even in the hostile black desert, life can find a way and restore color and beauty to the land. And so, at that moment, I told myself that this would not be my last visit. I wanted to return under different conditions, later, when the scene would be even more alive. During this June expedition, I discovered other interesting places as well, but this one stayed with me the most.

Several months later, in September, I returned to Iceland. The goal was clear—to visit the newly discovered composition again and see how it looked. Once again, I rented a specially modified vehicle and set off for the place where we had discovered the composition in June. After just the first few kilometers in the interior, it was clear that there was much more water in Iceland this time. The rivers were swollen, and it was not easy to ford them. I managed to do so, however, and headed straight toward my destination.

After hours of travel, I arrived at the site. What had previously been a completely silent place was now filled with the sound of flowing rivers. I knew something would be different, and I couldn’t wait to see my composition from a bird’s-eye view. I launched the drone and flew over the place I had photographed in June. In that moment, I saw something incredible.

The moss that had previously surrounded the “dead, dried forest formation” was now far more vibrant and saturated. And what’s more, new glacial rivers were now flowing just beneath the formations that resembled trees. This was exactly how I had imagined the scene. These rivers breathed life into the area. They brought beautiful colors into the volcanic moss and intensified the feeling I wanted the photograph to convey. I still had to wait a while for the light to change so that no harsh shadows would form in the composition. After a few hours of waiting, I launched the drone once again and captured the photograph titled “Forest Reborn.” - visual meditation on renewal, awakening, and the eternal cycle of life. It captures the moment when light gently touches the earth, breathing life into forms that exist between abstraction and nature. From above, rivers become roots, sands turn into bark, and the landscape transforms into a living organism — an ethereal self-portrait of the planet itself. 

This artwork embodies the fragile balance between chaos and harmony. Every vein, every line, every subtle transition tells a story of resilience and transformation — a reminder that creation and decay are inseparable parts of the same dance. Forest Reborn is more than a photograph. It is an invitation to pause, to reconnect with the natural pulse of the Earth, and to witness beauty reborn from the quiet depths of time.

The photograph "Forest Reborn" is so precious to me that it has earned a place in the Prestige Collection of my fine art prints, which means it will be owned by only five collectors worldwide. It will never be printed again, as it represents an exceptional moment achieved through extraordinary effort and determination.