Andrius Repšys. White Trees
Curonian Spit History Museum, Pamario St. 53
Opening: 2026 09 15 | 6 p.m.
The photographic series White Trees explores the transformations of the landscape left by cormorant colonies and humanity's relationship with them, inviting viewers to move beyond simplistic judgments. It encourages us to see ecological processes as a complex system of natural change, where human attitudes, scientific understanding, and artistic interpretation meet in a shared dialogue.
Through the artist's perspective, the presence of birds transforms the environment: a living forest becomes a white, frozen landscape in which the processes of life and decay merge into a single visual state. This landscape becomes not only a sign of ecological transformation but also a unique space for aesthetic experience.
The photographs are created from the perspective of a bird in flight, departing from conventional approaches to wildlife photography. In this way, viewers are invited not merely to observe the colony from a distance, but to experience the landscape as if through the birds' own eyes. This perspective reshapes our habitual relationship with the image and encourages a reconsideration of the connections between humans and nature.
The impact of cormorants in the Neringa region is clearly visible: dead pine forests are gradually being replaced by deciduous trees and shrubs. This is a long ecological transformation in which one group of species gives way to another. A central idea of the project is to resist the impulse to "correct" nature too quickly. Human lifespans are relatively short, and rapid changes in the environment are often perceived as catastrophe. Yet ecological processes unfold on entirely different timescales—what appears to be damage today may, over time, become a new ecological balance.
The project is based on artistic research conducted in the cormorant colonies of Juodkrantė, Ožkų Ragas, and other locations in the Neringa region. It brings together the perspectives of local residents, naturalists, and ornithologists, alongside scientific observations and photographic storytelling, offering a way to see cormorants not only as a species associated with conflict but also as an integral part of the contemporary landscape of the Curonian Spit.
For the photographic series White Forest, Andrius Repšys was awarded the Neringa Mayor's Photography Prize in 2025.
