“I remember seeing my first truly wild forest, an untouched old-growth forest in Sweden. T

“I remember seeing my first truly wild forest, an untouched old-growth forest in Sweden. That was a spiritual meeting for me. Not religious, but spiritual. Suddenly I came into a forest where the trees were ten times as wide, or five times as wide as I had ever seen, and twice as tall. A bit like coming into a cathedral or temple, it demands your awe, your respect. You come in and you get humbled, you get little. And this is of course what churches are designed for, to make you humble. The forest is a cathedral that is not designed by man, but by the forest itself." 

—Staffan Widstrand on bringing back the glories of the wild from our summer issue.

Read the full conversation here.

Pictured: European bison bull, by Staffan Widstrand