Ever since my abstract industrial exhibit, PURE, I’ve been continuing to visit marinas, shipyards, and drydocks where I can find them. I’m fascinated by the variety of ships and the traces they show of their journeys on the open ocean, and the effects sun, salt, and waves have had on these complex and incredibly useful vessels. I enjoy documenting the state of degredation, wear, and the patina of time and weather they display. Being able to return to the same locations months apart affords me the chance to see progress of restoration, or them gearing up to return to service after the winter. New additions come and replace some as the process is completed and they return back to the world.

I have a very formulaic approach to photographing a ship’s hull with my wide-angle lens. It’s perfect for these conditions, of showing them large and stately. My film rolls show the same image, over and over, but with a great range of variety. Similar to the architectural vernacular photos of Bernd and Hilla Becker, this is my riff on repetition of form. It’s in the amassed collection of a great many that the individual beauty and uniqueness can be appreciated.

I’d like to display them in a huge gridded display, similar to my exhibits at CORE Gallery between 2023-2025. I believe the visual power will be much more in a large collection than showing a few only. I’m also planning on making a hand-made artist book for them, accordian style, where the image can be unfolded and stretched out to show them in a long line. I’d like to have it be double sided - and am still working on what imagery to have on the back, possibly more detail or full landscape style shots. It’s still proof of concept, so will see how it develops. Hoping to have a book completed by summer. Here are a few images in the series. More can be found on my instragam page. Please leave a comment if you find these of value and would like to see more.