Excerpts from an exploratory self-directed survey of Puerto Rico’s water systems. The intention was to begin to understand how Puerto Rico relates ecologically (and eventually, culturally) to its water sources. While water on the island is typically discussed for its destructive properties, culturally and ecologically it holds up and creates communities in fundamental and unique ways. With a local guide and a drone, we visited a variety of water types, documented infrastructure, and captured interactions.
I wanted to further understand alternative water narratives while experimenting with framing how photography could aid in the communication of complex ecological relationships. Themes we uncovered found homes in: the visible v. invisible, emotional cultural health v. physical safety and wellbeing, natural v. manmade infrastructure.
The goal is to use this to launch a larger project where local Puerto Rican artists create and elaborate on water issues/concepts close to them.
