ENDLESS
bound and shaped by water
A large peninsula. A nature preserve in the countryside. An overgrown park and farm. A region built on reclaimed swamp land. A pond on a rainy day. A system of intricate canals. A river flowing through the city. A fountain in a lush garden. The high-water mark from a devastating flood.
It is all bound and shaped by water. Connected in one way or another. With no beginning and no end..
ENDLESS is a small collection of photographs I made while visiting London, Amsterdam & Paris with my wife in August 2024. Throughout the whole trip I was completely dumbfounded by the rich histories of these beautiful countries; especially when compared to somewhere like the United States. Once we got back home and I sifted through the archive, it dawned on me that these places were connected by one element in particular: water.
Here are some notes I made while doing more research on the connection of water with these places:
Isle of Dogs (left row of photographs)
a peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London.
Countryside, nature preserve, overgrown, natural landscape..all nourished by water.
Amsterdam (middle row of photographs)
Name literally translates to "The Dam on the River Amstel".
During the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century, canals were dug / initially built for water management and defense (floods and war).
Paris (right row of photographs)
When initially settled and built by the Romans around 50 BC, it was named Lutetia, deriving from the Latin word lutum meaning "mud, dirt, clay". The first settlement was built on an island in the River Seine that is called Île de la Cité.
In a few locations around the city you can find flood markers that show the high-water mark (like the last photograph in this body of work) from the 1910 Great Flood of Paris.
Thank you for checking out this collection of photographs. I hope you enjoy it :-)
For those who are interested.. I currently have 8x12” prints (with 1/2” inch border) available through my site: ENDLESS prints
Such beautiful work! And I love how you explored the connection between them all. Water is indeed a powerful force!