Socotra’s Dragon Blood Trees

Russian photographer Daniel Kordan is adept at locating extraordinary environments around the world. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, the Socotra archipelago is populated by dragon blood trees, an evergreen species with upturned branches that splay outward and produce a bristling canopy.

Kordan’s photographs, which are shot at dawn, golden hour, and under a star-illuminated sky, frame this unique growth pattern that leaves the trees’ gnarled wood underbelly exposed. Combined with the deep red sap that seeps from its trunk, this otherworldly feature ties the species to local lore. 

“According to legend, the first dragon blood tree was created from the blood of a dragon who was wounded in a battle with an elephant,” the photographer says.