Woodlanders is a collection of 60 photographic portraits by photographer, writer and designer Keith Lovegrove. The photographs were taken over a period of eight years on a sinuous journey through woodlands large and small, ancient and managed, that led inevitably to the doors of those who dwell and work amid the trees.

From the edge of a chestnut coppice to the understorey of ancient woodland emerge the faces and remarkable characters of foresters, coppice workers, craftspeople and residents of the woods across the southern United Kingdom. Lovegrove finds his subjects open, ardent and vital – with a sense of both freedom and rootedness, working and living as they do in a mutually beneficial relationship with their surroundings.

The portraits seek to impart the spirit and essence of creative, highly skilled and enterprising people who are nurturing the seeds of a sustainable future for woodlands everywhere. In its raw and sensitive portrayals, Woodlanders documents those who have answered the vigorous call of the woods and invites us all to recalibrate our view, to adjust to the low light as we are enveloped in the bright spirit of this industrious community.