Hubert Humka / Eternal U

Imagine that after death you will become a tree, part of the forest, unlimited and free energy. A lively monument will grow on you.

Eternal U is a story about the so-called good death and eternity. Through photographs of forests being natural cemeteries where the dead are buried in biodegradable urns or coffins, marked only with a previously selected tree, Humka shows a certain way of thinking about us as a code, an immortal chain of some larger universe. During life, we all draw from it, to later give it a part of ourselves:

“In each of these places, the forest itself, giving eternal rest to the people buried there, was the most important element for me,” says Hubert Humka. “There I photographed the soil in which they rested and the bark of the trees they became. I like to think that the roots of these trees, drawing from the people buried under them, include them in their existence, that nothing ends, that it is only our human self that changes. We become a tree, a forest, part of something bigger that reaches beyond us. We connect with the universe, we become infinite.”

Eternal U is the second joint publishing project of Hubert Humka and BLOW UP PRESS. The book was created in the spirit of sustainable development, respect for the world and the surrounding nature, on ecological recycled papers. Its main axis are photographs of the forest (life), accompanied by negatives (death) and embossed text about leaving (traces we leave behind).

Awards:

• Shortlisted for the the 2024 Arles Prix du Livre award in the Photo-Text category
• Shortlisted for the 2024 PHotoESPAÑA Best Photography Book of the Year Award (Bibliophilia category)
• Honorable Mention at the 2024 Photographic Publication of the Year award
• Gold Award in the 2024 European Design Awards in the Book Layout category
• Polish Radio 24's Glebia Ostrosci: Photobooks of the Year (Marek Grygiel)

Language: English, French
Size: 32 x 23 cm, 92 pages
Binding: softcover
Publisher: Blow Up Press, 2023