We always assume we are at liberty to impose our will on the environment. But when we bungle up, nature asks for the debt to be paid.
After The Rain: Number 2 took three years to publish. We didn’t anticipate it to take that long, but a lot of things had happened between July 2019 and spring 2022.
The second volume is part elegy, part celebration of nature. Nature saved our sanity during the lockdown. It became the inspiration for our illustrations and photography.
But as this volume alludes, nature can be terrifying. We always assume we live in nature rent-free, at liberty to impose our will on the environment. But when we bungle up, as what had happened with the 2019 pandemic and the aftermath, nature knocks on our door. It asks for its debt to be paid.
In a way, humans in lockdown are like the two frightened frogs on the cover of Number 2. Anxious to be left alone, struggling for air in the claustrophobic bucket, but also too terrified to venture out in the rain, for fear of the snake lying in wait.
It is an image that fills us with pity, and pity is what we should feel more of nature.
We invite you to come up with your own interpretation when you read Number 2. There could be a hint of Wordsworth’s I wandered lonely as a cloud. Or maybe Italo Calvino’s Adam, One Afternoon. Or maybe it’s not even that deep. We hope you find some sort of joy, if not solace, from the images of flora and fauna.
We always assume we are at liberty to impose our will on the environment. But when we bungle up, nature asks for the debt to be paid.
After The Rain: Number 2 took three years to publish. We didn’t anticipate it to take that long, but a lot of things had happened between July 2019 and spring 2022.
The second volume is part elegy, part celebration of nature. Nature saved our sanity during the lockdown. It became the inspiration for our illustrations and photography.
But as this volume alludes, nature can be terrifying. We always assume we live in nature rent-free, at liberty to impose our will on the environment. But when we bungle up, as what had happened with the 2019 pandemic and the aftermath, nature knocks on our door. It asks for its debt to be paid.
In a way, humans in lockdown are like the two frightened frogs on the cover of Number 2. Anxious to be left alone, struggling for air in the claustrophobic bucket, but also too terrified to venture out in the rain, for fear of the snake lying in wait.
It is an image that fills us with pity, and pity is what we should feel more of nature.
We invite you to come up with your own interpretation when you read Number 2. There could be a hint of Wordsworth’s I wandered lonely as a cloud. Or maybe Italo Calvino’s Adam, One Afternoon. Or maybe it’s not even that deep. We hope you find some sort of joy, if not solace, from the images of flora and fauna.
Number 2 is available to purchase on Blurb and Kindle.
Foreword: After The Rain, edition Number 2.
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