Beneath ‘The Tree of Life,’ Skander Khif Shares Intimate Stories in Black-and-White

a black-and-white photograph of a group of people standing under a sideways-blown olive tree in a small town in Tunisia

All images © Skander Khif, shared with permission

Skander Khif was born in Tunis and first learned about the art of photography during a school project. But his studies eventually took him down an engineering path before he rediscovered his love for the medium and began focusing on its power to capture the intricacies and diversity of human relationships, communities, and places around the world. Now based in Munich, he documents life in public spaces to tell intimate visual stories.

For the past two years, Khif has been pursuing a personal project revolving around the environment and the climate crisis. His focuses his lens on people and what he describes as “their spirituality and their ways of living,” testaments to the relationship between place, time, and tradition. While he was traveling through Tunisia, he stopped in a small fishing village near Sidi Mechreg, a windswept place that sits very close to Africa’s northernmost point.

“I have always been fascinated by special trees,” Khif tells Colossal, “particularly olive trees, due to their cultural and historical significance in places like Tunisia.” In the arid regions where they grow, the trees—and the proverbial olive branch—have long been symbolic of peace, friendship, and strength. “I had heard about the existence of such a tree in this region and went searching for it without knowing what I would find,” Khif says. “That’s when I met 3am El Ayechi and his grandson under the tree.”

a black-and-white photograph of an elderly man sitting on a plastic lawn chair in the shade of a large windblown olive tree

Khif’s series, The Tree of Life, documents a typical afternoon for 3am El Ayechi—the 3am nickname translates from Arabic to an endearing term for “uncle”—who often visits what locals refer to as “the wind tree” because of its stalwart ability to withstand strong, salty winds. Khif spent three hours with Ayechi in the morning, visited by friends and relatives, listening to stories about his family, the region, and the tree, which he called “Om Ezitouna.”

After Ayechi went for prayer, lunch, and siesta, he returned to his spot beneath the tree, where the pair spent a further three hours together. Ayechi described witnessing and participating in the Bizerte battle, a three-day crisis between Tunisian and French forces in 1961 shortly after Tunisia gained independence from France—in the very spot they sat.

“Encounters like this are precisely why I became a photographer—meeting beautiful souls, hearing their stories, and making friends,” Khif says. “I often find myself invited into people’s homes and lives, especially in the south and the countryside. It’s important to forget the purpose or mission while photographing and to enjoy the people, their stories, and the moment.”

Explore more of the artist’s work on Behance, Instagram, and his website.

a black-and-white photograph of an elderly man's hand resting on a wooden walking stick

a black-and-white photograph of an elderly man sitting on a plastic lawn chair in the shade of a large windblown olive tree, talking with his young grandson

a black-and-white photograph of an elderly man's hands gripping a wooden walking stick

a black-and-white photograph of a vacant plastic lawn chair under a severely windblown olive tree

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