Last spring I got to work alongside some amazing local Maine artists by doing some water cinematography for their site-specific art performance. The stillness collective is a place-based interdisciplinary and improvisational collaborative practicing deep listening and intensive making in nature. One of the things I was practicing while working with them was how to decenter the human form. How can we visually show and represent humans as a part of nature and not imposed on it? The humans are in, a part of, but not the sole focus.
Filming in water also presents specific challenges that force me to accommodate the element I'm working with and release some control. The case that my camera goes into is quite unwieldy, buoyant, and difficult to handle while wearing 5mm thick wetsuit gloves (we were filming on a particularly cold, Maine spring day). When in the water, I can't always impose what I want to do - but am learning to listen to what the water has to offer in terms of composition and movement.
This work is currently on exhibit at Space Gallery in Portland, ME until April 1 2024.
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