French photographer and horticulturalist Cedric Pollet travels the plant looking for beautiful tree bark to photograph. In his introduction to Bark: An Intimate Look At The World’s Trees
“After spending a lot of time visiting gardens in search of what I hoped would be my ideal subject, I realized one day that flowers really didn’t do much for me. But I couldn’t leave without some kind of a souvenir. On my way out of that garden, the gnarled trunk of a centuries-old oak tree caught my attention and opened my eyes to a hitherto unknown domain: the world of bark.”
Peuplier blanc
It’s pretty much neglected because at first sight it holds little interest for us. You can count books about bark on the fingers of one hand. It is, in fact, present in many forms in our daily lives (cinnamon, cork, rubber, incense, medicines, chewing gums, fibres, pigments and so on), but this only serves to make it seem ordinary. … To whet people’s enthusiasm, I thought it was important to find ways to surprise and move them, by treating bark in a completely new way, at once aesthetic and playful.
Ocotillo tree, a shrub-like plant found in the Southeast United States Image by Cedric Pollet
Birch, Northern Europe and Russia
This type of manzanita grows in the San Luis Obispo region of California. Its reddish-purple bark starts to peel in early summer.
pachypodia palm, Madagascar
Stewartia, Japan
The Mindanoan gum (or rainbow eucalyptus) is located in the Philippines. Layers of bark peel away throughout its growing seasons and in the Philippines, the bark is used as a traditional remedy to combat fatigue.
Birch, Northern Europe and Russia
Frankincense
The orange-red bark of a madrone evergreen tree, found on the west coast of North America, peels away on mature wood. Beneath is a smooth, green layer.
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