Baobab

by Beth Moon

A spectacular oversize photo book celebrating Africa’s most majestic trees―which are now facing an unprecedented ecological threat. Baobabs are one of Africa’s natural they can live more than 2,000 years, and their massive, water-storing trunks can grow to more than one hundred feet in circumference. They serve as a renewable source of food, fiber, and fuel, as well as a focus of spiritual life. But now, suddenly, the largest baobabs are dying off , literally collapsing under their own weight. Scientists believe these ancient giants are being dehydrated by drought and higher temperatures, likely the result of climate change. Photographer Beth Moon, already responsible for some of the most indelible images of Africa’s oldest and largest baobabs, has undertaken a new photographic pilgrimage to bear witness to this environmental catastrophe and document the baobabs that still survive. In this oversize volume, Moon presents breathtaking new duotone tree portraits of the baobabs of Madagascar, Botswana, South Africa, and Senegal. She recounts her eventful journey to visit these monumental trees in a moving diaristic text studded with color travel photos. This book also includes an essay by Adrian Patrut, leader of a research team that has studied Africa's largest baobabs and alerted the world tot he threat these majestic trees are facing.  Baobab is not only a compelling photo book and travel narrative, but also a timely ecological warning.

128 pages, Hardcover

Published November 30, 2021

About the author

Beth Moon, a photographer based in San Francisco, makes her exhibition prints exclusively with the platinum/palladium process, which allows for the greatest possible permanence and tonal range. Moon’s work has been published widely in magazines, and she is represented by galleries in the United States, Italy, Israel, Brazil, and Dubai.

Reviews

[Peter Tillman]

Excerpts and photos here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles...
Looks like a winner! Hi-pri TBR, TB published 30 NOV.

[Iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is organized like a travel journal. The author’s reflections and explanations of the challenges of traveling to remote locations accompany the photos of trees. Adrian Patrut’s short essay on scientific research of baobabs is appended. For the most part, individual photos lack any explanation. For example, the trees have symmetrical scars that might indicate people have harvested bark but one can only surmise this based on a photo taken in the market of long strips of baobab bark used for making baskets, rope and roofing. Trees in the photos from Madagascar are single trunked while those in Botswana are multi-trunked. The essay offers some insight.
The photos are mesmerizing but I want to understand more about what I’m seeing in them. The jacket copy reads “But now, suddenly, many of the largest baobabs are dying… Scientists believe these ancient giants are being dehydrated by drought and higher temperatures, likely the result of climate change.” A nice tease not fully borne out by the narration.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s astonishing how beautiful photos of trees can be: but these are stunning photos of very unusual trees. I also understood immediately how the author / photographer Beth Moon fell under the spell of Madagascar, something she conveys well in her very personal text, as I’ve had that experience too.
The short summary of research on the age of baobab trees and on what is threatening them brought an extra dimension to the book. I did feel some basic descriptive info about the varieties or baobab would also have been useful.
One practical point to note, especially if you have limited space: at 39cm wide and 26cm high, it’s a very large book!

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lucious, beautiful book. I initally got this because of my love of Baobabs (inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, natch) and I thought it would likely be a good "coffee table" book. But it is so much more. Beth Moon writes with such clarity and spirtuality about the trees, and about her pilgramage, in effect, for them. Here we have the example of that rare book that I wish I could just thrust upon everyone I know. It is punctuated, sadly, by the underlying message of the book -- that these trees, many of them, are dying. A symbol of so many losses due to climate change, but also a kind of societal change, a loss of certain things that used to be valuable to us.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story through photographs of some the oldest trees on earth featuring lyrical almost poetic words from the author traveling to see some of them on the African continent.