Raghu Rai Trees. India. 2013-2015.
"Twenty years ago, my love for nature and all of its earthly delights drove me to purchase farm land near Delhi. The ravine-like ground was a challenge, as it needed both
(...) a landscaper and gardeners to create the magic. But, as my architect wife Meet said, 'Being a creative photographer, you'll just have to do it yourself.' Somewhere she had challenged my sensibilities. Every day I went there-along with a bulldozer and a few other hands-and walked around waiting for inspiration to speak to me. It took me four-five months to landscape, putting in a variety of plants, shrubs, creepers and even trees. Whenever on assignment traveling in my own country, I'd pick up plants and shrubs, which, along with inspiration from all over the world, I'd bring back for my six acres of canvas that I have been painting on all these years.
India is a hot country, June the hottest month, and it was almost dark when there was a sudden dust storm followed by intense rain-the pearl-like magic drops covered my whole space and how desperately I wanted to capture them all. When passion is charged with intensity, intuition provides you the freedom to capture something beyond that which is known."
- Raghu Rai © Raghu Rai | Magnum Photos