A palm tree is a palm tree, 2018 © Bruno V. Roels
A palm tree is a palm tree, 2018 © Bruno V. Roels 
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Bruno V. Roels - A palm tree is a palm tree

22/03/2018 - 05/05/2018

HOWARD GREENBERG 
41 East 57th Street 
Suite 1406 
10022 New York

www.howardgreenberg.com   

 
A Palm Tree Is A Palm Tree Is A Palm Tree, a play on Gertrude Stein’s line of verse “a rose is a rose is a rose,” explores the multiplicity of the iconic palm tree in photographic repetition and variation. Of his instantly-recognizable and internationally symbolic muse, Roels has said, “Every palm tree is alike, and looks the same no matter what its location. Each is different, though, as each is shaped by the events of its location.” He has photographed palm trees predominantly in the south of Europe.

As Roels considers the act of printing as important as the act of photographing itself, he uses analog photographic techniques such as solarization and under- and overexposure to add or subtract information. Finding each print of inherent value, his grid compositions are built of multiple iterations of a single moment and a single image. No two prints are the same. He uses the separate prints and unique details in sequences and fluctuations to convey a more significant meaning, much like the way a poet uses individual words to write a poem.