SHIPYARD ARCHEOLOGY

From the Liza Cowan archive:

I took these photographs from June 1999 to July, 2001, in Greenport, a small town on the end of the north fork of Long Island, NY. Greenport is an old whaling port as well as the site of a shipping industry that waned after its large role in W.W.II.


Poster for a showing of Shipyard Archeology. June 2002. The photo is "Zinc"

 

The Greenport Yacht and Shipbuilding Company sits on the bay, tucked away just behind the vibrant and modestly upscale center of this tourist town. The beauty of the shipyard is complex and fascinating. The details I focus on show the effects of time and weather on the human made objects and the landscape that surrounds them. The industrial objects I was shooting were becoming more beautiful as they were exposed to the elements. As the usefulness of each thing leaked out, as the object evolved, or devolved from its state of creation, it became more of an artifact , more purely form. This process is exaggerated by the abstract vision of my pictures.



View To Miss N. Photo copyright Liza Cowan 2000


The objects tell stories. Beyond the biological story of rust, corrosion, and oxidation, is the human story. Industrial practices change. What we need and how we buy and sell has an impact on the life of a town. Prohibition is over and there are no more rum runners. We no longer need whale oil. Gasoline tankers mercifully do not stop on the peconic bay. Nor do war ships.


Icy Handle. Photo copyright Liza Cowan 2000

Many things made of wood, steel and glass that were once state of the art are now outstripped by microchips and polymers. Nevertheless, fishingpeople still haul their catches in wooden boats, the little ferries still chug across the bay, tankers haul their cargo.


Blue Rudder. Photo copyright Liza Cowan 2000

Welders weld, painters paint, machinists fix the cogs and wheels.


In/out. Photo copyright Liza Cowan 2000

Ships that are showing the signs of age come in for a rehab and the process reverses. Old layers of paint are stripped off, corrosions are blasted and smoothed, metals are burnished. New paint goes on, new cogs and wheels are attached. Boats roll down back to the sea.



Foggy View. Photo copyright Liza Cowan 2000

 

Comments

[amy]

wow, these photographs are breathtaking! stunning!

[Liza Cowan]

Thanks, Amy. I'm so glad that you like them, and thanks for writing. You can see a few more on my website (lizacowan.com)

I was shooting film then, and just recently I've begun to miss it. I think I had a lot more control over the technique with analog, not to mention the quality of film versus digital. But I'm not going back. Film is too hard to process, for me.

It was while I was doing that series that I began to figure out what I wanted to do with photography; how to compose, what to shoot and how.

[Kudzu Fire]

the foggy photo is intriguing. the years worn by old things, and the way they wear those years can be very compelling

[lotusgreen]

love the cobalt ;^)

[Maggie Jochild]

Ah...I remember running across these two years ago, and realizing not only were you doing well, you were outstanding. I first wrote you on the strength of these photos.

Just stunning.