The mystery of the swamp

Caddo Lake spans over 10,000 hectares on the border between Texas and Louisiana and owes its name to the Caddoans or Caddo, a Native American population that lived there until their expulsion in the 19th century. The lake is teeming with swamp cypresses (Swamp Cypress) that form a lush forest within the water. Navigating through the waters and the forest of Caddo is to immerse oneself in a magical and mysterious place. Very mysterious.

Autumn at Caddo Lake is not a season; it is a spell that slowly dissolves over the water. When the morning rises cold, the lake is shrouded in dense fog that blurs the boundary between land and sky. The bare cypresses, ancient giants with claw-like roots emerging from the swamp, transform. Their green foliage gives way to a blazing palette of copper, golden, and deep ochre tones, a final flicker of fire before winter’s slumber.

For the photographer, this place is a labyrinth of mirrors and patience. The black and still water, covered in patches by a lens-shaped algae carpet, acts like a perfect crystal. Every twisted branch, every strand of Spanish moss hanging like ancient gray lace, is duplicated in the reflection with an almost unreal sharpness. The light filters in laterally, softly and diffusely, igniting the treetops while the bases remain submerged in the lake’s mysterious twilight.