*Hyrcanian Forest, Gorgan, Iran / 2011* ©*Mohsen Moghaddam — All rights reserved*

Everything began here, in the Hyrcanian Forest, an ancient woodland stretching along the misty slopes of the Alborz Mountains. A forest home to hundreds of unique plant and animal species and a resilient biosphere reserve, perhaps one of the last living sanctuaries left on Earth.

My first steps into this forest were more than just steps, they honestly marked the beginning of transformation, the start of an unspoken bond between myself and trees that existed long long before me and will remain long after my journey is done, long after I am gone.

*Hyrcanian Forest, Gorgan, Iran* ©*Mohsen Moghaddam — All rights reserved*

Every birdsong, every rustle of leaves beneath my feet, was truly a feeling without a name, yet deeply real and unique which awakened something pure within me. I admit that the forest slowly became an endless source of inspiration for me.

*Alborz Mountains, Gorgan, Iran* ©*Mohsen Moghaddam — All rights reserved*

I have hiked every inch of this forest, through all four seasons, by day and by night. In the misty silence of early mornings and the sudden roar of passing clouds and rains, I breathed, I grew from within and I eventually changed.
Its softness and mystery truly shaped me and taught me how to be patient and resilient. What I am now is simply a reflection of what has passed through my soul and what this forest and this solo journey has planted within me, which now breathing inside me and even upon the canvas.

This is not the story of the forest alone but it is the story of a human being who, within the heart of nature, has found his true self. I fall, but I regrow like the leaves of the trees, until my sun no longer rises tomorrow.