yyt

During the evening crit session when we were down in the studio looking at the walls, I noticed that the work on one wall was almost stereotypically Newfoundland, the other was more complex.

The worrying aspect of this finding was that the more complex work was the earlier work, the newer work was the one that seemed to be embracing the quaintness of the province.

While the earlier work had basketball hoops in it, ball park benches and dugouts, newer buildings, Budweiser delivery lorries, satellite dishes and the like, the newer work has almost exclusively sea based; rooms - a lot of rooms, cod drying, boats, gutting tables etc. While there are minor exceptions to the trend – a ATV track in Glenburnie – they are that – exceptions.

This is worrying, I know that it is impossible to photograph on the coast outside to St. John’s and not run into this sort of problem but it would seem that the trend would go in the other direction, the simple already seen stuff first then the deeper look the more nuanced image.

We bounce back and forth between us a theory that no matter where you are you bring your baggage with you, Is my photographic “baggage” so overpowering that when I get “nuanced” I go for the stereotyped. After all except for the laundry lines - which I think are illegal in the land above Mexico – I would be photographing all that I do in the early work. In sorting slides – yeah right – in sorting jpgs. for the Keynote presentation that is to be turned into a Powerpoint presentation – I noticed that with a more portable camera none of this nostalgic twaddle was apparent.

Am worried still have a fortnight to go just have to choose my places more carefully, no more abandoned outports hello Rocky Harbour.