[extreme environments]
Scott Brennan
Urban Trees on the Margins
On “Urban Trees on the Margins”
Since antiquity, city planners, developers, architects, and engineers have shaped the urban environments we inhabit. Today’s cities, however—designed largely around the automobile—have sprawled outward, consuming green space in the process. Aside from designated parks and the occasional preserved fragment of native flora, most of the natural landscape has been built over or paved. Miami, my home city, exemplifies this trend.
As an urban landscape photographer, I document the physical imprint of these planning decisions—sometimes, perhaps, as a form of ironic social critique. These choices affect more than just infrastructure; they shape our relationship with nature, our sense of place, and our access to green space. In Miami, as in many other cities, wild or even semi-wild nature has been pushed to the margins of everyday life. It no longer surrounds us—it’s something we have to seek out. The more economically disadvantaged the neighborhood, the more acute the loss.
Among the most enduring symbols of the natural world is the tree. On my weekly photowalks through Miami—and occasionally in New York City—I began to focus on trees that survive in the margins: in warehouse districts, along neglected sidewalks, and in communities most stripped of ecological richness. These environments are often harsh, austere, and seemingly indifferent to life, yet these trees persist.
As climate change intensifies and reshapes our cities, the way we treat urban trees—and what they represent—may offer insight into how we confront the broader environmental crisis. This series is a reflection on resilience, neglect, and the quiet, persistent presence of nature in places where we might least expect to find it.
Scott Brennan, a photographer and writer, divides his time between Miami, Florida, and Vermont. Recent work has appeared in The Hopkins Review, River Styx, and Berkeley Journal of Sociology. The recipient of the Scotti Merrill Award, his first book of poetry, Raft Made of Seagull Feathers, appeared with Main Street Rag Press.