architect michael jantzen finds wood spirits in the secret symmetry of the forest

head into your nearest woods this winter and you might just be lucky enough to spot some forest spirits. architect michael jantzen has managed to capture a couple himself in his series ‘spirits in the winter woods’, which sees him digitally manipulate photos of forest scenes, revealing the many faces hidden in its secret symmetry. 

‘the snowman’

‘digital photos were taken of sections of various varieties of trees and plants, all with some degree of snow cover’, explains michael jantzen, ‘these photos were then loaded into a computer where they were cut and pasted into mirrored images of themselves. this was done by doubling the original photos into various symmetrical forms.’ the artist then examines the photos for any evidence of facial characteristics, and enhances them by adding eyes and colour to certain portions of the picture. ‘the final photomontages were created to suggest the fanciful existence of various spirits that may dwell in the hidden symmetry of nature.’

‘snow bunny’

‘yucca man’

‘snow bear’

‘cedar tree spirit’ 

‘sprit in the brush’ 

‘dead leaf sprit’

‘sprit in the pines’

‘snow girl sprit’

‘spirit in the white pine tree’

‘spirit in the oak forest’

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: peter corboy | designboom