Baobab: BLAD

by Beth Moon

The baobabs of Madagascar and southern Africa are among the world’s natural they can live more than 2,500 years, and their massive, water-storing trunks can reach a diameter of more than thirty-five feet. Baobabs also play an important role in human communities, serving 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—began to hear of the rapid disappearance of these trees from her scientific contacts. She was driven to make a new photographic pilgrimage to bear witness to this environmental catastrophe and document the baobabs that still survive. In this volume—markedly oversize to match the majestic scale of her subjects—Moon presents fifty breathtaking new duotone tree portraits, primarily of the baobabs of Madagascar and Senegal. She also recounts her eventful journey to visit these fantastic trees in a moving diaristic text studded with color travel photos.
Baobab is not only a compelling photo book and travel narrative, but also a timely ecological warning.

12 pages, Paperback

Published September 14, 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.