How Can a Wave Be (2015)
In 2015 I had my first run in with the ocean on a four month voyage from Northern Mexico to Southern England. Working along the assumption that the oceans would be different in color the further we went I took what I thought to be just color scale photos of the sea. However something always intervened, there was a ripple, a whitehead, texture interfering with photos of just color, the ocean was more wild than I had thought. This texture was opportunity though and in the many hours open to us on the voyage I became an ocean gazer, I would stare down mesmerized by pattern and color, cause and effect. At its height I could attain a sort of zen in which I could anticipate interactions in the ocean, read what was coming.
This body of photos (well over 2000 in all) were captured entirely with a fixed 35mm lens, very wide given the subject. Instead of zooming in for details, I walked up and down the 6 decks of the ship. Some of the photos are very near to the ocean, others capture hundreds of feet of water as we ran into storms. This project also taught me the abilities of my 35mm lens and set it as my lens of choice today.