As one strips away the color from the tropics, a more graphic, if shadowed, perception becomes possible. To see the tropics in monochrome is to see them fresh… without preconceived ideas.
I think this is why this BW image fascinates me. A palm is an amazing structure. Its the symbol of one of the political parties here, yet for guests it means escape and the sense that "we really are not at home anymore." It symbolizes water and warmth. This tree is also an amazing object, unusual to the eyes of North Americans. The monochrome rendition helps us to see the tree not as something else, a "stand-in" or "proxy" but directly for what it is.
I made this photograph this morning and when I saw its crooked trunk and huge spread of fronds against the clear sky, I knew what I had.
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