Tree of Forgetfulness: Boom der Vergetelheid; L'Arbre de L'Oubli; A Bon fu Frigiti

Book Description
The trans-Atlantic trade in slaves lasted for three centuries. Millions of Africans were forced to leave their places of birth and march to the coast to await their deportation to the European plantations on the other side of the ocean. The histories of West Africa and Surinam are thus inextricably entwined with the Dutch colonial past. Laura Samsom Rous and Hans Samsom photographed the final section of the slave route lasting hundreds of kilometres that ended at the port of Ouidah in Benin on the Slave Coast of West Africa. They also took photographs of the king of Benin, whose forefathers had cooperated with the European slave traders. They followed the trail to Suriname, photographing the inland, the village Tutubuka, and the Maroons themselves, the direct descendants of the slaves that managed to escape the plantations and fight for their freedom. Laura Samsom Rous took the portrait photographs, and Hans Samsom used a panoramic camera with a rotating lens to photograph the landscape. Text in English, Dutch, French and Sranan.

About the Author
Laura Samsom Rous studied anthropology at the University of Amsterdam and was a lecturer at the Academy of Art in Utrecht and The Hague. Her photographs are in international collections. Together with Hans Samsom, she worked for the United Nations, the Anti Apartheid Movement and the Royal Tropical Institute in the Netherlands. They work and live in Amsterdam.


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"Emotionally charged subjects such as the slave trade are usually dealt with in pure documentary fashion. Documentary photographers have become the pre-eminent reporters of the world's atrocities. Deciding to combine portraits and panoramas in the Tree of Forgetfulness is not only a subtle way, but also a clear artistic token of respect for these lives and the landscape. The burden of their overwhelming history gains shape in the context of this book." What makes the photography of Hans en Laura Samsom unique is that they have both selected and nurtured their individual nuances, atmosphere and approach for years already. For the theme of slavery was there also a functional and formal division of tasks in the collaboration approach used. The portraits by Laura Samsom are of sublime simplicity, some panoramas by Hans Samsom are of paradisiacal beauty.


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