North of the Sea (color, pt 1 of 2)
"North of the Sea"
North of the Sea emerges from three transformative weeks along Norway's southern coastline, where my wife's ancestral homeland became the stage for profound personal revelation. Using both black and white film and digital medium format cameras, I documented our immersion into coastal life—living with her cousins, sharing meals steeped in tradition, and surrendering to the rhythms of fjord existence.
Through my lens, I captured not merely the austere beauty of this Nordic sanctuary, but the internal transformation that occurs when one discovers unexpected peace in ancestral terrain. The project's philosophical anchor crystallized during my final day, when I joined the family's crab fishing expedition. Witnessing the inevitable bycatch destined for bait, I instinctively returned one small creature to the sea, only to watch a vigilant seagull immediately claim it.
This singular moment revealed the project's deeper meaning: our well-intentioned impulse to intervene sometimes disrupts a natural order more complex than our understanding allows. North of the Sea captures both the profound beauty of Norway's coastal wilderness and the humility that emerges when we learn to witness rather than alter, to document rather than direct, and to find peace in accepting what simply is.
