Quiver Tree and the Moon | Black and White Art

Quiver Trees are one of my favourite trees; the other is the Baobab. The Quiver tree has a beautiful golden bark that becomes lustrous in the golden afternoon light. Its beautiful shape and form have always fascinated me. It was why I decided to take a road trip to photograph a small forest of Quiver trees on a farm outside Springbok in the Northern Cape of South Africa.

Excerpt from my notes...

"I had hiked many hours through the koppies of the Northern Cape. It was tough as the hillside was covered in black slate and slippy underfoot. With no paths, I kept one eye on the horizon the other on the ground for snakes and potholes. The last thing I needed was a bite from a lazy deadly puff adder or a broken ankle from a pothole.

My destination was insight a patch of Quiver trees shone in the afternoon sun like a mirage, shimmering gold against the black slate.

My shoulders were sore from the weight of my backpack. My lungs were aching from the cold winter air in truth I was unfit and in desperate need of shedding some winter excess.

A few clouds, unusual for wintertime moved slowly across the sky. It was then I noticed the moon. My heart skipped a beat as I could see the pieces of my jigsaw come together.

I had reached the Quiver trees and found a beautiful specimen. It was perfect, moon, clouds, Quiver tree and leading lines across the top of the hills.

I have always been secretly in love with the landscape, the solitude and surrounding beauty caress my soul and the stress of everyday life fades away.

The connection humans have with nature is primal and essential for our well being. We have become trapped in concrete jungles that slowly erode our humanity.

I hope by sharing my landscape prints that it will connect and ignite with those viewing. To take a deep breath and for a few moments transport themselves to the hillside covered in Quiver trees, and let their sense get overwhelmed by the sounds of wind and birds and bathe in the last warm rays of the winter sun"

Author Peter Delaney