The Way Home
“The Way Home” is a series of landscape photographs chronicling the history of the Hudson River and its river towns. The Hudson, named “Muh-he-kumne-tuk”, or “the river that flows both ways” by Native Americans, has sustained life for millennia. However, we often overlook the civilizations and ecosystems that thrived there before European colonization. These photographs, created using historical techniques, evoke the feeling of life along the river before Dutch settlement, while simultaneously addressing current issues—from rising water levels and pollution to abandoned buildings being destroyed. I intend for these photographs to inspire an appreciation for the river and to provoke a sense of responsibility to protect it.
The photographs were captured using my smartphone during train commutes along the Hudson. Then, I transformed those images into ambrotypes—positive glass prints created using the wet plate collodion process. By beginning with digital photography and then transitioning to alternative processes, I bridge the gap between the modern and the historical, transforming captured moments from static reality into dynamic expressions of movement and the passage of time.
This project began as an exploration of a commute along a river and has evolved into a broader exploration of the history and ecology of the Hudson. Rivers have always been a source of life where civilizations began and thrived. This project delves into the Hudson’s significance as a source of life and a historical connector for commerce and energy. Additionally, it intertwines with the historical narrative of a railroad spanning generations, capturing the experiences of passengers waiting at stations and riding through various destinations across different times.
As I began to commute up and down, I started to realize what can happen when certain variables become unsustainable. We’re at a point in our civilization where we are beginning to really understand how vulnerable this land we live on truly is.
This portfolio will eventually consist of palladium prints on 20 x 24 Arches Platine paper.
