The Broccoli Tree, Or: The Dangers of Sharing Photos of What We Love
Here’s a fascinating 4-minute video by vlogbrothers that tells the sad and infuriating parable of The Broccoli Tree. It’s a tale that shows the dangers of photo sharing in the modern Instagrammed world.
Over the following days, months, and years, however, Svedberg kept passing by the tree and rephotographing it in different seasons, times of day, lighting conditions, and weather. Pretty soon, he started a dedicated Instagram account for the project called @thebroccolitree.
Before long, Svedberg’s new Instagram had amassed tens of thousands of followers, and the tree became more and more famous. Google Maps listed The Broccoli Tree as a destination in Huskvarna, Sweden, and people began paying visits to the tree to see it in person.
But then in September 2017, the unthinkable occurred: Svedberg visited the tree and was horrified to find that someone had taken a saw to one of the tree’s main trunks (shown in the second photo of the slideshow below).
“[…] I guess it was just a matter of time before some guys mentally retarded enough would crawl up from under a stone and make it happen as a part of a bet or something,” Svedberg wrote. “You absolutely cannot un-saw a tree.”
Days later, the tree was completely chopped down and removed.
“To share something is to risk losing it especially in a world where sharing occurs at tremendous scale and where everyone seems to want to be noticed even if only for cutting down a beloved tree,” says Seth Radley in the vlogbrothers video. “If we hoard and hide what we love, we can still lose it. Only then, we’re alone in the loss.
“You can’t unsaw a tree but you can’t unsee one either.”
You can find more photos and info about The Broccoli Tree on its website, Facebook, and Instagram.
(via vlogbrothers via Laughing Squid)
Update: After being sawed and vandalized, authorities reportedly made the decision that the whole tree had to be removed.
