"On the Beach at Fontana" James Joyce

"On the Beach at Fontana" James Joyce Wind whines and whines the shingle, The crazy pierstakes groan; A senile sea numbers each single Slimesilvered stone. From whining wind and colder Grey sea I wrap him warm And touch his trembling fineboned shoulder And boyish arm. Around us fear, descending Darkness of fear above And in my heart how deep unending Ache of love! These photos express my emotional response to Joyce's poem “On the beach in Fontana”. I have always wanted to link poetry to photography and this poem has particular importance to me. It resonates with the potential insignificance of our lives, of time passing and the universe moving inexorably forward with seemingly no regard to us as individuals and the lives we play out. What is most meaningful for me is that despite our fear, we are able to rise above life's pitfalls, and regardless of pain, we are capable of such unconditional love. It is in our ability to face the limits that time puts upon us, that we emerge richer. In responding to these thoughts, I worked with intentionally long exposures to create a sense of movement in the images and to allow, through the imprint of light over the exposure time, an actual visual depiction of the time passing. If the word “photography” comes from the Greek words “photo” meaning light and “graphia” meaning to draw/write, I wanted to show through this process we can genuinely draw with light to create powerful images that go beyond the idea of just capturing a still, confined moment but rather depict a sense of continuity.