10/9/2020
What does it mean to return to a land which holds the history of one’s past? A place where ancestors built homes, worked fields, raised families? For those amongst us who know their family history a heritage allows for a special exploration of Self, both inner and outer. Each step into this landscape and every encounter is a movement towards oneself, a step into self-consciousness.
Unfortunately many are severed from their heritage, from knowledge of their roots, perhaps due to wars or natural disasters, or, in the case of Afro-Americans, due to the tragic consequences of slavery.
These images are a portrait in the form of a mosaic of my heritage, the land where my father’s family is from. The streams, mountains, canyons, and forests set the scene where my ancestors lived. This geography is the mould in which their way of life was shaped. Here, the shepherds take sheep to pasture, through open fields and cool woodlands, to pools where they quench their thirst. This is also the land of wolves and foxes, boars and deer, predator and prey. Their activity is heightened at night, when human presence subsides. These two worlds, natural and human, live side by side sometimes in conflict but always in balance.
The town of Celano stands up on a hill, at the foot of Mount Tino. Its’ castle is the jewel and pride of its’ inhabitants. Like mushrooms on a tree the houses sprawl around the castle, cascading into the open valley of Fucino. The village streets at night gloom with an eerie artificial light, suspended in their peculiar dimension. From medieval pathways to modern roads, the blueprint of the town changes gradually, defying and yet describing the passage of time.
These images are taken with a 5x4 view camera, with slow exposure times, often taking advantage of the small aperture of f64 to allow for longer exposures. In this way water passing over stones resembles sheep passing through forests. Time, and the constant flow of life, is the underlying theme of Heritage, a reminder that we are all connected to our past and thus to each other.
