Samana – Jan Smith

While in the Dominican Republic I developed this series on trees, palm trees specifically.  I found them on the new road from Santo Domingo to Samana.

There are acres upon acres of palm tree plantations and one large  section is littered with dry husks.  At first I thought this was due to a hurricane or drought, but the area affected was too enclosed to be naturally caused.

I later learned that oil palm trees reach an end to their productive cycle.  At that point they are deliberately culled to make room for new growth.

There was a sadness in knowing how so much life was deliberately purged, and the scene itself was dramatic.  Wandering among the remains I was impressed by how many seemed to have human shapes,  and how stories emerged from the rows of trees.

This is perhaps a disturbing series, but I wanted to treat these images as a collection of intimate portraits.  I  hope I captured the sense of awe and melancholy I felt.