Slave Trees

A young Black woman stares over her shoulder into the camera while she stands among trees destroyed by the storm in David Berg's black-and-white photograph, Regrowth I
David Berg, Regrowth II, 2017. Photograph. St. Croix.

St. Croix photographer David Berg was struck by the power of Hurricane María to bring down what islanders in St. Croix call "Slave Trees." Pictured here is a ceiba tree dating from the era of slavery, which was abolished following a revolt of enslaved peoples in St. Croix in 1848.

A young Black woman stares into the camera while she stands among trees destroyed by the storm in David Berg's black-and-white photograph, Regrowth II
David Berg, Regrowth I, 2017. Photograph. St. Croix.

The title of Berg's photographic series "Regrowth" points to the long memories of human and more-than-human ecologies and their resurgence in the aftermath of hurricanes. 

Learn more about David Berg.

 

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