I have been in love with Lake Superior since my first trip to the Boundary Waters thirty years ago. My most recent visit was with my wife in October 2011. I'm hoping to go up again this winter. The North Shore never ceases to be a source of refreshment and inspiration to me.I'm thinking of the North Shore this week because I just learned of a new project called The Fresh Coast Project. It is an effort, by photographer Ed Wargin, to document the Great Lakes as thoroughly as possible via the media of photographic film. Fantastic! The website for the project has a number of photo galleries with some of the most beautiful images I've ever seen.
From the website:
The Fresh Coast Project is the endeavor to capture the Great Lakes on film prior to the cessation of film as a photographic medium. But why is this important? Why has this project driven one photographer to do so now, before the chance is gone?
With decades behind the lens and working with film, professional photographer Ed Wargin has dedicated his craft and career to discovering the Great Lakes, one frame at a time.
From Ed: "I grew up in the Great Lakes, I've always felt the connection to it. Long ago, it became my goal to capture the grandeur of the entire Fresh Coast as an artistic, archival, and historical project. My initial aim was to retain its pristine image for future generations to enjoy, in the hope that it encourages forthcoming populations to care for, celebrate, and preserve this great resource. But along the way, the project became much more than this. There are historical repercussions to the loss of film. A piece of film is tangible, and provides an indisputable reference. A digital file is not quite tangible in that sense. You cannot touch or feel it, and therefore, from an historical reference point of view, you cannot guarantee that it has been untouched, unaltered. Think about all historical documentation going forward once film is gone - and how much we need tangible mediums to serve as reference points. In addition, consider the many environmental factors placed on our Great Lakes. My goal is also to create a body of work that will serve future generations of leaders, teachers, artists, legislators, citizens and stewards by allowing them to use these images of the Fresh Coast Project as a way to judge how the shores have changed, the impact we are making whether for good or bad, many years from now."
No comments:
Post a Comment