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Personal statement by the Polish photographer
“In each of these places, the forest itself, giving eternal rest to the people buried there, was the most important element for me,” - says Hubert Humka. - “There I photographed the soil in which they rested and the bark of the trees they became. I like to think that the roots of these trees, drawing from the people buried under them, include them in their existence, that nothing ends, that it is only our human self that changes. We become a tree, a forest, part of something bigger that reaches beyond us. We connect with the universe, we become infinite. (...) With this book I close my own trilogy of death. In 'Evil Man', I portrayed victims of homicide and suicide. In 'Death Landscapes', I talked about landscapes tainted by trauma and death. In turn, 'Eternal U', in my opinion, brings peace, tames death, shows its completely different face."” (Hubert HUMKA)
Background information, content
"Imagine that after death you will become a tree, part of the forest, unlimited and free energy. A lively monument will grow on you. The limited edition volume 'Eternal U' contains a story about the so-called good death and eternity. Through photographs of forests being natural cemeteries where the dead are buried in biodegradable urns or coffins, marked only with a previously selected tree, Hubert HUMKA shows a certain way of thinking about us as a code, an immortal chain of some larger universe. During life, we all draw from it, to later give it a part of ourselves. The photographic title 'Eternal U' is a part of his personal trilogy, togerther with 'Eden' and 'Death Landscapes' (2018, now only available in Polish).
The main axis of 'Eternal U' by Hubert HUMKA are photographs of the forest (life), accompanied by negatives (death) and embossed text about leaving (traces we leave behind).
Additional information, reception
Visual concept of the book 'Eternal U' and design are made by Aneta KOWALCZYK, the editing also by Grzegorz Kosmal. The book was created in the spirit of sustainable development, respect for the world and the surrounding nature, on ecological recycled papers.
'Eternal U' was selected for 'Photobooks of the Year' by Marek Grygiel (Polish Radio 24's Glebia Ostrosci) and reviewed as 'The most unusual photobook published in Poland this fall.' (Kamila Snopek, fotopolis.pl)