In stukken gezaagde boom in het bos van Mayombe before 1892

This photograph of a tree sawn into pieces in the Mayombe forest is found within the pages of an old book. It's easy to overlook the violence enacted here. Stripped bare, the land is not an empty stage, but one with a specific history, and the book is from the height of colonial exploitation in the Congo. The cutting of this tree is not neutral; it represents the voracious appetite of industry and empire, devouring African resources. The forest becomes a warehouse of sorts, each tree an objectified commodity. Trees have deep spiritual meaning for many Congolese peoples, and the felling of trees is thus not only an environmental act, but also a cultural one, severing ties between people and their ancestral lands. What does it mean when a tree is not venerated but rather seen as capital? This anonymous photograph serves as a potent reminder of the many ways extractivism uproots both people and place.