VAREST
A Photography Book of the Forest of Dean
VAREST is a photography book documenting the Forest of Dean through landscape, woodland, water, and traces of its working history. Created by local photographer James Kelly-Smith, the book brings together photographs made over several years, shaped by repeated visits, changing seasons, and time spent observing the Forest as a lived-in landscape.
The title Varest comes from local Forester dialect — one of several ways the word forest has been spoken and written over time. It reflects both place and familiarity, and the way the Forest is known by those who spend time within it.
About the VAREST Photography Book
VAREST is a photography-led book that explores the Forest of Dean beyond familiar viewpoints. Rather than presenting a guide or a definitive portrait, it offers a quieter, more considered look at a place shaped by light, weather, time, and human history.
The book combines 76 landscape, woodland, and water photographs with short essays and reflective texts, creating space to slow down and look more closely.
Woodland, Water, and Atmospheric Photography
VAREST is a photography-led book that focuses on how the Forest of Dean looks and feels when you slow down and pay attention. It is not a guidebook, nor a comprehensive survey, but a personal record of the Forest as it changes through light, weather, and season.
The book combines woodland, landscape, and water photography with short essays and reflective texts that provide context without explaining the images away.
A landscape shaped by Industry and time
The Forest of Dean is often thought of as ancient woodland, but it is also a place shaped by mining, forestry, and industry. These histories remain present in the landscape, sometimes clearly visible and sometimes barely noticed.
VAREST explores how these traces sit alongside natural processes. Many of the photographs focus on quieter locations rather than landmarks, places where industry and nature overlap, and where change is gradual rather than dramatic.
Woodland, water, and atmosphere
Much of the photography in VAREST is shaped by natural conditions. Early mornings, mist, low cloud, and changing light play an important role in how the Forest is revealed.
Water features strongly throughout the book, from ponds formed through industrial use to lakes that have since become important habitats for wildlife. These spaces offer stillness, reflection, and contrast within a dense woodland environment.
Photography and writing
The photographs are supported by a series of short essays and text pages. These draw on local culture, dialect, and personal experience of the Forest, offering a framework for the images while leaving space for the viewer to form their own interpretation.
The writing is intended to slow the pace of the book and encourage a more considered way of looking, without competing with the photography.
About the photographer
James Kelly-Smith is a landscape and nature photographer based in the Forest of Dean. His work focuses on woodland, water, and place, with an emphasis on atmosphere and observation.
His photography has received international recognition, including Honorable Mentions from the International Photography Awards, and has been featured in interviews and publications.