The Intertidal Project delves into the concept that there’s a difference between what we see and what we are aware of. The work records the moments of impact when a person, time, and place intersect leaving an indelible imprint upon them both. With each recurring instance new layers of memory are forged like geological strata. By growing conscious of these cumulative memories, we can reveal the unfolding of time.
Over time photographs I’d taken at Wild Moor Point slowly exposed the depth of our reciprocal strata while I relentlessly mapped the interaction of water and my presence along the coastline. Simultaneously the changing tides carved more imprints into the rocks as waves rose and receded. Years of collected moments passed through shifting sand, rocks and tides. New photographic maps formed as the lines between the coast and me slowly merged.
I became obsessed with the desire to unmask the rocks beneath the water when the tide crested ones I stood upon. Beholding years of shared strata at once I decided to form a map of time itself. I recalled my childhood introduction to art through a 1950’s accordion book titled, The Art of Japanese Woodblock Printing. The first panel showed only the outline of a place. Each fold thereafter was stamped with one carved layer of color until the completed landscape materialized at the end. The final woodblock print perfectly illustrated how a composition is formed through the layering process.
The outlines of my cherished location were no different. I realized that instead of blocks color I could fill the contours with blocks of time. As I returned to the cliff edge again and again, I peeled time apart as each visit became another puzzle piece recording the high, low and intertidal zones of tides.
Gradually I amassed over 11,000 photographs over four years as the bond between me and Wild Moor Point was laid bare. Finally, by crafting hundreds of curated images into one outlined picture I manifested the mercurial color of time. The breath of ebbing and flowing tides has changed the landscape, and through it I have changed too. The Tidal Block print now defines us both as I’ve realized my original goal to share the full experience of a pivotal time and place through the intersecting strata of our interdependent memories.
Kerry Mansfield
Born in New Jersey in 1974, Kerry graduated with a Bachelor Degree of Photography from UC Berkeley and currently resides in San Francisco, California. For over two decades she’s made a name for herself in the industry with images concentrated on the passage of time and how it affects our perceptions of what we see and experience.
Her pictures have been featured in numerous publications, exhibited globally, and received various accolades from the photography community. Honors include the LensCulture Single Image Award, multiple World Photography Organization, PX3 and IPA awards. A host of press and publications, ranging from the Time Lightbox to the New York Times LensBlog, have featured multiple bodies of work. Kerry’s Expired series monograph, released in spring 2017, was highly received and accompanied by several solo exhibitions in major U.S. cities.
Since 2018 she’s focused intently on the Intertidal Project delving into how memories form over time when a person is impacted by a place. Kerry’s lifelong commitment to document her curated locations for the Intertidal Project continues to deepen her awareness of how environmental change impacts both the person and place as layered memories reveal the passage of time.
www.kerrymansfield.com
@kerrymansfield
All Abot Kerry Mansfield
