INSPIRADA PER LA NATURA

This album is the result of Yoko Suzuki's deep admiration for the MontPhoto nature photography competition.

Yoko transforms the award-winning photographs in the exhibition into piano compositions that capture both the visual beauty and the atmosphere and background of each image. With her creativity and unique sensibility, she manages to transform the visual into sound, giving rise to an artistic dialogue between two worlds: each piece emerges as the melodic translation of a photograph.

A multi sensory and moving journey, where music becomes a gateway to experience the emotions and stories hidden in the award-winning images at MontPhoto.

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Yoko Suzuki

Yoko Suzuki, a pianist and composer born in Tokyo, embraced music from childhood: she began playing the piano at the age of three and by the age of five she was already performing with her father's church choir. Her passion for Spanish music led her to Barcelona in 2001 to study with the legendary Alicia de Larrocha, with whom she shared seven years of training and friendship.

At the Marshall Academy (founded by Enrique Granados in 1901) she deepened and perfected her Spanish repertoire alongside Carlota Garriga and, inspired by Carmen Bravo, Frederic Mompou's widow, she was able to study and perfect her Spanish repertoire.

With a talent that has shone on stages across Europe, America, Asia and Africa, she has captivated audiences as a soloist, with orchestras and collaborating with flamenco, as well as composing for charitable projects such as this one. Award-winning in international competitions, she has left her stamp with albums such as Granados Piano – Cartas de amor and Yoko Piano – Lágrima de luna. From Barcelona, she continues to lay bridges between Japan and Spain, performing each note with tenderness, energy and depth.

Tracklist

Original compositions and performances by Yoko Suzuki inspired by the photographs

MOUNTAIN ACTIVITY

1 - Swim in the largest Underground Lake in the World

Photo: Kasia Biernacka

Brian Rajdl is swimming in the largest underground lake in the world so far discovered, located in northern Namibia. The lake lies hidden under the Kalahari Desert, in Dragon’s Breath cave, at a depth of 60 meters. Swimming in this natural reservoir of crystal clear water is a luxury in Namibia – the country that sometimes doesn't see rain 7 years in a row.

MAMMALS

2 - Lunch escaped

Photo: Jing Shi

The picture was taken on the grasslands of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. Tibetan foxes (Vulpes ferrilata) and pikas (Ochotona sp.)are very common predators and preys here. They perform killings and escapes every day. I noticed a Tibetan fox hunting, so I slowly approached and took this photo at the moment when a fox was hunting a pika.

BIRDS

3 - Flock of Gold

Photo: Alex Pansier

Sunrise September 2024: tens of thousands of Red Knots (Calidris canutus) packed at Snettisham, Norfolk, glowing at high tide, conserving energy and dodging predators. One bird briefly broke away, wings gleaming with individuality.

OTHER ANIMALS

4 - Brillo de ojos

Photo: Ivo Niermann

any nocturnal animals have a tapetum lucidum, a biological adaptation designed to enhance vision in the dark. This effect is known in mammals. Some insects and spiders also exhibit this phenomenon, even though their compound eyes have a completely different structure to that of mammalian eyes. The photo depicts a moth (Noctuidae).

PLANT LIFE

5 - Locked in ice

Photo: Norbert Kaszás

I took this photo of an old man's beard (Clematis vitalba) in the Duna-Ipoly National Park in Hungary. I found this clematis seed frozen in ice during a winter photo shoot. I found it very interesting because of its special shape. Fortunately, I was able to light it from behind, so this picture was taken.

LANDSCAPE

6 - Cono de Arita

Photo: Francisco Fernández García

Taken at sunset in March 2025 in the Salar de Arizaro (Puna, Argentina), this drone image shows an aeolian sedimentary cone emerging from the salt bed. The golden light casts its long shadow on the white plain, highlighting the stratified veins and granular texture of the cone against the salt crusts and cracks in the foreground.

UNDERWATER WORLD

7 - The fabulous world of water lilies

Photo: Gaël Modrak

Every summer, I go to a lake of the south-eas of France to take pictures of water lilies nenúfares (Nymphaeaceae) and fishes who hide among them. Finding the right balance between light, angle of view and framing depending on the sun position, plants density and water clarity, allows a wide diversity of pictures. I approach them by snorkeling and moving very cautiously, not to rise particles from the bottom.

ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT

8 - Breeding Machine

Photo: Amy Jones

An elderly Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) rests her fragile body against the wall of her enclosure on a tiger farm in northern Thailand. For over 20 years, she was kept inside this cage and used as a breeding machine, producing cubs for industries ranging from tiger tourism to the illegal trade in tiger body parts. She was rescued by Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT).

ART IN NATURE

9 - Love poem

Photo: Alex Pansier

A lone heart-shaped leaf drifts down an autumn stream in Den Bosch, The Netherlands. Its wake sketching rhythmic reflections beneath the bridge like lines of a love poem.

NATURE PORTFOLIO

10 - The love life of toads and frogs

Photo: Rob Blanken

This series is about the love life of toads and frogs. It is a series with a wink because the 'love life' is partly viewed from the perspective of humans. In human eyes it is a real orgy with many matings and also regularly a threesome.

STORYTELLING-AGUSTÍ M. VILÀ

11 - Love, hate and rattlesnakes

Photo: Javier Aznar

Rattlesnakes have long been symbols of renewal and feared as messengers on the underworld. Admired by Indigenous peoples and settlers, yet hunted to this day, they evoke both fascination and fear. Despite their ecological role in rodent control and the medical value of their venom, they are still killed in traditional events. Education and conservation can shift public perception. We must respect and protect them before they vanish from our landscapes.

12 - Inspirada per la natura

Acknowledgements

At MontPhoto, we would like to express our deepest and most sincere gratitude to Yoko Suzuki for her dedication and sensitivity in the creative process behind this album, which fully embodies our motto, ‘inspired by nature’. We would also like to acknowledge and appreciate the commitment and excellence of the participating photographers, especially the winners of the MontPhoto competition, whose images masterfully reflect the essence of nature.
These compositions remind us that caring for the Earth is a shared responsibility, and that art has the power to inspire awareness, sowing hope and guiding us towards a more sustainable future.