Without the Root

Many moons ago, before large pharmaceuticals played god over our health, the people of earth used what was naturally available to cure their ailments. Foraging for food and concocting natural remedies out of bark, roots, leaves, flowers and fruits was all part of every day life. In those days the village elders were still the most respected knowledge bearers, passing on vital information from generation to generation.

Time passed, and by the mid 1800s local apothecary shops expanded from their traditional role as botanical medicine distributors, paving the way for what would soon be the start of multinational corporations and wholesale synthetic drug manufacture.

But, despite chemical advancements, in many societies the use of herbal medicine still prevails, especially in non-industrialised zones and those yet to be occupied by the big drug industry. And as long as there is soil to shoot roots, the plants of our ancestors will keep on doing what they always did.

Without the Root celebrates some of these natural healers found within the Finnskogen forest of Norway.

With special thanks to Atelier Austmarka and those spots of earth still unconquered.