hamadryad

A hamadryad (/hæməˈdraɪ.æd/; Greek: Ἁμαδρυάδες, Hamadryádes) is a Greek mythological being that lives in trees. They are a particular type of dryad, which are a particular type of nymph. Hamadryads are born bonded to a certain tree. Some believe that hamadryads are the actual tree, while normal dryads are simply the entities, or spirits, of the trees. If the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it died as well. For that reason, dryads and the gods punished any mortals who harmed trees.

This is yet another one of the pictures I shot last summer while I was at my village in the mountains. The original idea was that the body would somehow be connected to the tree, as if it emerged from it. While I was working on my last picture, “naiad“, I read about this kind of nymphs that were connected to trees, the hamadryads, so I knew this picture would be about that. I added the smoke and the butterflies (all pictures shot by me) to further highlight the magic that’s happening in this scene.

This and all the other pictures in my portfolio is available as a limited edition fine art print. If you are interested you can contact me directly or visit my saatchi gallery page.