Logged Forest Photos Superimpose Trees' Soundwaves When They Were Alive

If you sit quietly in a forest without making even the tinyest peep and just close your eyes, you'll soon realize that there's a lot more going on around you than what you would have detected if you were viewing the landscape with all senses unencumbered.

Without the assistance of eyes, it's amazing how much actually comes into focus -- sounds appear seemingly out of nowhere, reminding us that an environment teeming with trees is just one tiny part of a vast ecosystem unto its own.

The idea of incorporating sound into art and design has certainly been explored before, as in the remarkable soundwave tabletops that Berlin-based designer Daniel Dendra created using the noise emanating from bustling Cairo streets.

Tviga Vasilyeva's "Soundstills" -- photographs of real logged forests superimposed with the actual soundwaves generated from the trees prior to their destruction -- really sends the concept home.

Old growth forests are becoming increasingly rarer as modern industry continues to utilize the wood for furniture and other applications, and the consequence of post-logging operations can be seen along the border between Russia and Finland in the region known as the Green Belt of Fennoscandia.

Greenpeace says that a number of ecosystems ranging from Arctic tundra at the Barents Sea coast to mixed coniferous and broadleaf forests covering the islands of the Gulf of Finland can be found in the area, and yet lumber industries continue to claim large parts of it.

They suggest that if in just the next few years this pace continues, more than half of the unique natural areas constituting "The Green Belt of Fennoscandia" are likely to be destroyed.

Vasilyeva documented the 6 meter high soundwaves that trees in that area released prior to them being chopped down -- those images are in white.

The photographer then inserted the soundwaves into post-logging images of the very same areas, in essence offering proof of their existance even though just the stumps remained behind.

If you ever questioned whether a tree makes a sound after it is chopped down, now is the time to become a believer.