TRAÇOS DA MARÉ AZUL

THE FISHERMEN ARE A TRACE OF THE OCEAN BLUE- FOR THEY HAVE MADE A HOME OF IT

TRAÇOS DA MARÉ AZUL — IS A PHOTOGRAPHIC SERIES THAT FOLLOWS THE LIVES OF ARTISANAL FISHERMEN OF THE MAPUTO BAY IN MOZAMBIQUE.

MUCH LIKE OUR OWN SHADOWS, THIS COMMUNITY OFTEN GOES UNNOTICED IN THE DAILY LIVES OF THOSE WHO SURROUND THEM. THEY ARE FACELESS AND NAMELESS TO THE PASSING EYE — FIGURES IN THE BACKGROUND OF A MORNING COMMUTE, SILHOUETTES AGAINST A VAST COASTLINE THAT MOST OF US TUNE OUT AS WE INITIATE A NEW DAY. WE READILY SEE THE BY-PRODUCTS OF THEIR LABOUR, AND YET CARRY LIMITED INSIGHT TO THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO KEEP THIS PRACTICE ALIVE, AND TO THE PROCESS BEHIND IT.

TRAÇOS DA MARÉ AZUL AIMS TO PULL THE VIEWER INTO THE FISHERMEN'S WORLD. A WORLD WHERE THEY ARE NO LONGER SILHOUETTES. THEY ARE PEOPLE WITH NAMES, WITH FACES, AND WAVES OF STORIES TO TELL.

THIS PROJECT WAS BORN FROM A PRESSING CONCERN: HOW HAS THE RISE OF LARGE COMMERCIAL FISHING CORPORATIONS AND ILLEGAL FISHING WITHIN MOZAMBICAN WATERS DIRECTLY AFFECTED THE LIVES OF THE COMMUNITY AT HAND? HOW HAVE THEY BEEN FORCED TO ADAPT THROUGH THIS REALITY?

AS THE WORK EVOLVED, SO DID THE QUESTION AT THE CORE OF IT. WITHOUT DIMINISHING THE PRESSING CONCERN, I COULDN'T SHAKE MY DEEP CURIOSITY TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS WORLD-WIDE PRACTICE WAS MADE OURS. HOW DID IT DIFFER FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD?

WHAT SEPARATES ONE FISHING CULTURE FROM ANOTHER — ARE THE TOOLS. THE SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES, AND INHERITED KNOWLEDGE THAT A COMMUNITY BRINGS TO THE WATER.

THAT OBSERVATION BECAME THE LENS THROUGH WHICH THIS PROJECT FOUND ITS DEEPER FOCUS. I WAS CURIOUS AS TO HOW OUR MOZAMBICAN ANCESTORS PRACTICED FISHING AND HOW THE PRACTICE HAS SHIFTED, REMAINED THE SAME AND EVOLVED OVER TIME. TRAÇOS DA MARÉ AZUL IS THE VEHICLE IN WHICH I INTEND TO DEEPEN MY UNDERSTANDING BY CREATING A VISUAL AND HISTORICAL ROADMAP AS TO HOW FISHING HAS EVOLVED AMONG THIS VAST COMMUNITY.