Fay Godwin - 'The Secret Forest of Dean'

Fay Godwin created the book ‘The Secret Forest of Dean’ entirely of rambles and visits she did in the forest area and not to be seen as a guide book; she has included a map of the location though, but she intended it to be seen as a journey book with images and text joining together to show the people who help keep the landscape beautiful and the outcome of it. It is seen as a portrait of the Forest of Dean, but from an outsider perspective because she isn't from this area.

“To find the heart of Dean one must dig deep to a history older than the Druids, feel the vitality in the soil and in the people and forgive the harshness and ugliness that sometimes scars those idyllic woods.” –page 8

This quote is from ‘Introduction by Edna Healey’ because she was brought up in the Forest of Dean and she initially doubted Fay Godwin because she saw her as a ‘foreigner’ as she wasn't from there, but her photography skills, passion for photographing the area and walking there so much, exposing 200 rolls of film, over a total of 18 visits, mainly when the tourists eased from going there.

This book is another example of different reasons for photographing the landscape, she photographed here because she rambled there a lot and used her knowledge of the landscape and people there to portray an interesting location. 

Edna Healey (1986). The Secret Forest of Dean - Fay Godwin. Great Britain: Redcliffe Press and Arnolfini Gallery. 7-11.