Where Ravens Cry is based on a hauntingly soulful exploration of the mythology and mysticism of Canada’s Pacific Northwest; a visual anthropology invoking the spiritual significance of the region’s ancestral lands – and the stories and legends that were birthed from them.

Over the course of two years, de Boer immersed himself in this world through his photography, exploring its secrets, learning from its peoples, waiting patiently for the ineffable spirit of the land to reveal itself. Summoning Joseph Campbell’s notion that mythology is what unites us all, he chose a large format camera to capture isolated landscapes, desolate coastlines, massive cedar trees and sacred forests, often fusing them with motifs from the legends he encountered.

The result is an artist’s book at once restrained in its presentation, and striking in its content and message. Beautifully printed with four separate black inks on natural uncoated paper, Where Ravens Cry an exquisite limited edition production of 500 copies, individually numbered and featuring a laid-in pentaptych measuring over four feet wide when fully opened.

The artist Jakob de Boer divides his time between Toronto and Paris. His work has covered a number of subjects but ultimately comes back to one theme: the latent essence of his subject. His work has been exhibited internationally and is held in numerous collections. Where Ravens Cry is his first monograph.