Equally important is to inspire, spark curiosity and help people gain a deeper understanding of nature. Now, her most beloved images are available as stunning photo wallpapers from Boråstapeter.

The mist still hangs thick between the tree trunks as Marie Mattsson leaves her home with her camera slung over her shoulder. Just outside her door stretches the Delsjö area – a hilly nature reserve in western Gothenburg, as close to wilderness as one can get in the midst of city life.

Her destination is one of the nearby forest paths, a favourite spot for several of the forest’s foxes. When she arrives, she lies down in the damp ditch to wait, completely still. An hour passes. Then two. Then three. And finally – the reward! The feeling when the first fox silently steps out onto the path is almost sacred.

“It doesn’t matter how many times I go out – every time feels completely new. There are always new things to discover; it never really ends.”

The Delsjö area rests on an ancient granite plateau, with ridges rising up to 140 metres above sea level. Here, within its 1,370 hectares, old oaks and tall pines stand beside fractured valleys, mirror-like lakes, bogs and wetland forests. It’s also here that Marie Mattsson has captured most of her beloved nature motifs – from mist-covered treetops and rows of elegant birches to the rich wildlife of the forest.

“Almost all my photos are taken within a three-kilometre radius of my home, and I almost always photograph on foot. It’s important to me to show nature that is accessible to everyone – I want people to be able to relate to my images. One of my most popular motifs shows a robin – a bird anyone might spot during a walk in the woods.”

For Marie, this comes naturally, but behind her images lie many years of experience, great patience and a skill that many have forgotten – the ability to read the weather and the rhythms of nature.

“I have family in Lapland, and I think my patience comes from my northern roots. I like when things move slowly, and there isn’t much action in my pictures,” Marie laughs.

She continues:
“I’ve learned how the landscape looks at different temperatures and how the light moves at various times of day in different parts of the forest. You gain incredible knowledge simply by spending time in nature.”

For almost seven years, Marie has worked as a marketing coordinator at Nordens Ark, a non-profit foundation that helps ensure a future for endangered animals. But her career began in a completely different world.

“When I was a child, I loved images – and I loved nature. But it wasn’t until much later that I realised I could combine those two passions. I’m a trained graphic designer and spent the first part of my career working for production companies, mostly in advertising.”

She describes herself as an idealist, and after a while, something began to gnaw inside her.

“I started to question what I was doing and felt that I wanted to do something meaningful – something that contributed to society in some way.”