Barcarolle

Five years by Regent’s Canal, framed by snow. Inspired by Chopin’s Op. 60, this project captures the nostalgic rhythm of water and the uncertainty of a transient home—a visual barcarolle reflecting the life before it meets the sea.

Barcarolle is a visual meditation on five years spent living and working along London’s Regent’s Canal. Arriving on a snowy Christmas Eve and staying far longer than intended, I found my daily ritual of walking the canal banks in step with Chopin's Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60.

The canal was not my first river. Water destined for the ocean, yet possessing a fragile, distinct identity before that final union—I have always lived inside that in-between. This project seeks to capture those "pre-ocean" moments.

The narrative follows a cycle that begins and ends with snow, framing a period defined by the friction between the comfort of routine and the weight of uncertainty. While my room gradually filled with belongings, the feeling of being a temporary passenger remained. Chopin's Barcarolle found me on those walks: moonlight sparking on the ripples, the inevitable ebb of something drifting away. These images follow that same rhythm—the rise and fall of life at the water's edge, caught between the pull of sanctuary and the impulse to leave.