Roots

Roots is a photo and book project that traces the quiet presence of nature within the urban fabric of Paris. Having grown up in a city embraced by mountains and fjords, I found myself longing for closeness to nature after relocating to Paris. Photographed on analog film, Roots moves through the dense rhythms of the city and out toward the wooded edges of the Bois de Vincennes.

Interwoven with these landscapes are portraits of my friend Sofia, whose vivid and playful presence becomes a counterpart to the organic forms I was documenting. I am drawn to the interplay between the human body and the natural world; in Sofia, I discovered the same vibrancy I sought in nature — alive, spontaneous, uncontained.

At its core, Roots is about structure and softness, permanence and change. It reflects a longing to hold what is fleeting, and to give presence to what is often overlooked.

- OO