To document the performance event that took place on Saturday, March 3, 2007, I chose to photograph the waves of Halifax harbour from the pier before and after a ferryboat arrived with passengers.
This project changes for me every time I look at the images, as I reflect on my memory of the performance. I find the metaphor of the waves intriguing as a visual interpretation of the connection and community of all those engaged in the performance. One effects and affects the other: inter-dependence grows between them. My intention was to include the images just before and just after the ferry arrived…the anticipation and the aftermath. There is a pause between the ‘before’ images and the ‘after’ images of when the ferry actually entered my viewpoint. I consciously chose not to photograph those few moments.
My request to the archivists of the near future would be that these images be conserved as Tiff files and viewed in a looped animated sequence projected on a white wall. I would like the viewer to encounter these images at a large-scale. But how long will the current technology exist? If, in the distant future, the digital images cannot be viewed due to advancements in technology, my request for conservation would also be to have these images produced as archival large-scale prints. These would be bound together in a book format and placed on the wall so that the viewer must turn the page to see the next image. Placing the book on the wall echoes my standing position on the pier as I photographed the waves.
