Havana Fortress Door Covered in Roots | Black and White Photography
Tree Roots Surround an Old Fortress Door in Havana
The roots had almost erased the door.
I found this scene while walking beyond Havana's more familiar tourist streets, along the old fortress walls near the bay. A small wooden door sat buried inside weathered stone, but what interested me was how completely the trees had begun to take over. Thick roots dropped from above, twisted across the wall and gathered around the doorway until architecture and vegetation seemed inseparable.
I photographed it in black and white because colour was not what held the scene together. It was texture, shadow and shape. The rough masonry, dark bark, fallen leaves and battered door all occupied nearly the same tonal world, which made the roots feel even more dominant. They do not simply frame the entrance; they seem to press against it from every direction.
Nothing was arranged. I did not move branches, clear leaves or try to make the doorway more visible. Its partial concealment was the reason I stopped.
What stays with me is the tension between something built to endure and something growing without any concern for the structure around it. A fortress suggests permanence, strength and control. The roots suggest the opposite—slow, persistent change.
Havana is full of layers, but this was one of the quieter ones. No crowd, no traffic, no obvious landmark announcing itself. Just an old door, heavy stone and trees steadily changing the wall around them. That silence is what I wanted the photograph to keep.
© Dan Kosmayer, 2009
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Every photograph in my collection comes from my own travels, explorations, and years behind the camera.
I create my work as photographic art rather than mass-produced decoration. From street portraits and abandoned places to landscapes, architecture, and the unusual subjects I discover along the way, each image begins with something that made me stop and look.
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