This is where the decisive battle between the English and French was won by General Wolfe's surprise attack on 13 Sept 1759. This event was the catalyst for Charles Robin & Co to establish a cod-fishing empire in the New World
Pop-up Studio on the Gáspe coast /
The old diary parlour converted into a temporary studio at Maison Le Page on the Gáspe coast
Visitors from Jersey to the Gáspe coast /
Great to have visitors from Jersey to come by the Gaspe to learn more about Charles Robin and the cod-fisheries. Here Senator Philip Ozouf and Kevin Rogers are meeting Roger Wise and Enid Legros, daughter of Arthur LeGros, who became a major shareholder of Robin Jones and Whitman Ltd in the early 1950s when the company was in difficulty and was acting General Manager for over twenty years.
Lady McKie's collection at National Archives Canada /
After a few days at the National Archives and Library in Ottawa, reviewing the remarkable collection of Phyllis Gertrude Ross (Lady McKie) who spend a lifetime fascinated with the Jersey - North Atlantic fisheries, it's time to head out East towards the Gulf of St Lawrence. Among the collection in Canada of close to 3000 photographs, 48 reels of films, texts and other artworks a number of excellent never-seen-before images exists and Ross' meticulous methodology and cataloguing raises new and interesting questions. In the Society Jersiaise Photo-Archive there is another remarkable set of photographs made by Phyllis Ross who in the early 1950s visited the island home of Charles Robin, Jersey's premier cod-merchant. Even more remarkable is a fictional biography - The Seaflower Venture - about the life and times of Robin that Phylis Ross wrote based on his own diaries.
In our new project we want to respond creatively to her work, especially using her unpublished manuscript of some 275.000 words as a narrative structure, making new images that explore the relationship between the fictional and non-fictional story about Robin's trading posts in the new British colonies in North America, that he established soon after the French defeat in the Seven Years War and the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763). On the back of many of her prints and negative sleeves Phyllis Ross would often annotate and make insightful descriptions. I noticed a little sticker in the corner on some images with her name and address and decided to look it up. As it happens she lived her final years on 10 Driveway just at the end of the road where I'm staying. Salut, Dame McKie!
INTERVENTIONS - last week /
Last week to explore a major survey show on Street Photography at Øksnehallen in Copenhagen. My installation INTERVENTIONS of a man walking alone across Europe to Kosovo in 1999 is included.
New Canadian adventure /
Planning my next adventure with Senator Philip Ozouf...the North-Atlantic cod fisheries in The Gaspe Peninsula, Canada where Jersey firms in the 17th, 18th & 19th centuries administered merchant capital flow of exotic commodities as a blueprint for a future offshore island finance industry. Interestingly enough, it was a Jersey Banking crisis in the 1880s that ended the very profitable transatlantic trade...another excellent example of Jersey operating as an Entrepôt.
Financial support towards travel costs from Jersey Arts Trust greatly appreciated! @JerseyArtsTrust @philipozouf @archisle1
Editing and sequencing Mãori book /
Te Ahi Kã - The Fires of occupation is a book about a river that is the lifeblood of the Maori people is beginning to take shape. Heartfelt thanks to Ania Nałęcka-Milach and Rafal Milach for their hard work editing and for their generous spirit in understanding a delicate story.
Farewell party at Sputnik Photos HQ /
Good luck in your new office and best wishes for future adventures...Sputnik Photos
