“Zyne International Photography Awards (ZIPA) 2025”• 2025• Oleng Forest, Golestan Province, Iran

Photographed from above in the Oleng Forest of Golestan Province, northern Iran, this aerial photograph transforms an ordinary pattern of movement into an unexpected natural form. The repeated passage of vehicles along the forest road creates a long, branching visual structure that, when seen from above, resembles the trunk and form of a tree.

The image explores the visual relationship between human movement and the natural landscape. What initially appears to be a tree is in fact a trace created by vehicles moving through the forest, creating a visual ambiguity between nature and human presence.

Through an aerial perspective, the photograph shifts the viewer's perception of scale and meaning. The forest becomes both a landscape and an abstract composition, while the vehicle tracks become a visual metaphor for the growing imprint of human activity within a natural environment. The work reflects Mohammad Ataei's broader documentary approach to photographing the interaction between people, infrastructure, movement, and the Iranian landscape.