For some years now, photographer Raya Segal has been taking weekly nature walks with friends, camera in hand. While some see the forest, Segal sees the trees — literally — leaning in close to capture shapes and forms within her viewfinder. The resulting body of work is an exhibition entitled “Trees Speak”, opening this coming week at the Man and the Living World Museum National Park in Ramat Gan.

Segal states that she’s has a long relationship with trees, from the giant fruit tree of her childhood in Moshav Gibton, to the forests around Kibbutz Manara in the upper Galilee where she was a member and a teacher of natural sciences, to the olive trees of Modi’in where she now lives.

Segal takes great delight in presenting the human-like qualities expressed in the curves of a tree trunk…

Mapping the variegated topography of tree bark…

Discovering new green growth, like a gift, hidden within…

Segal says that trees make good subjects for her because they’re static whereas animals are difficult subjects for her style of photography. Sometimes, however, she still gets lucky…

More photos and an interview with Raya Segal can be seen in this video clip.

Trees Speak opens on Monday, March 10, 2014 at the Man and the Living World Museum National Park in Ramat Gan.