Kathleen Holloway – Sea Change

My father-in-law Terry, has spent most of his life at sea. In his youth, he worked as a steward on luxury ships like the Queen Mary that took him around the world. After settling down and having children, those extended journeys were no longer possible.  But to soothe his longing to be on the water, he bought a boat which became a second home.  His boat, the Emma Claire, would take him and his children around Poole Harbor in Dorset, England, weaving in and out of various British waterways, and on occasion, even taking them to Holland, France, and the Channel Islands.  He has always loved boats, even collecting scrap books full of postcards of various paddle steamers and other seafaring vessels.  Now at 88, Terry suffers from dementia. He is muddled when talking about recent events, and he struggles to remember what year it is, but his memories of being on those boats, out at sea so long ago, are still crisp in his mind. 

In the brain of a person with dementia, neurons (nerve cells) become disconnected, degenerate and die. Connections with the outside world become more difficult and confusing. With these images, my aim is to give the viewer the feeling of the familiar that has become unfamiliar. Photographing fishing nets, ropes, sandy beaches and rocky shores, along the British coastline, plus pieces of his beloved Emma Claire, I then mirrored a single frame to join in a kaleidoscopic spin to reveal new forms and patterns that lay hidden beneath the surface. 

This project is dedicated to Terry.