The Hidden Forest

In The Hidden Forest, Baker turns her attention to the mysterious underwater world of Tasmania’s giant kelp forests. When Ben dives beneath the waves in search of his lost fish trap, he discovers a realm of unexpected beauty and begins to see the ocean and his place within it anew.

Baker created the book’s luminous, hyper-realistic illustrations by constructing three-dimensional collages from translucent materials, photographing them in specially built light boxes. This painstaking technique gives each image a gentle, glowing depth that conveys both the fragility and splendour of marine life.

As Baker explained: “When you see kelp underwater and you’re looking up, the sun shoots rays down like in a rainforest. The forest is magical and mysterious… it really fired my imagination.”

A visual poem about fear transformed into wonder, The Hidden Forest is both a story of discovery and a quiet call for respect toward one of the planet’s least-known ecosystems.