Dirt
Dirt combines my father's passion for his garden and the pride that parallels my passion for photography. Combined, these elements become a collaboration between my father and myself in this series. Employing form and composition to look at my family's garden, Dirt is a manifestation of our independent work. Photographed between seasons I allude to transition and the passage of time. Dirt follows the process of my father laying the garden as a labour of love. Allowing nature to run its course in his work, followed by my hand in documenting the results, maps the alignment of our exclusive interests. These images are photographed from above to flatten the landscape. They mark the beginning and/or the end of the gardening season, a conjunction which is always the most important and labour intensive time to both his work and my own.
This series fits into my continual exploration of the Portuguese culture, ideas surrounding family, history and heritage. It speaks to the roles men play within the culture from the perspective of a second-generation Portuguese-Canadian male. The body of work also gives a nod to the long lineage of labourers and farmers who built cities, railways, cultivated food, and provided for their families. Dirt attempts a dialogue which both transcends and exposes the barriers of circumstance.
