Wish You Were Here

Wish You Were Here is a text and image project in the form of postcards. The images are observations made during my travels and daily life over the past 5 years. The project looks to form new connections with strangers through reflections on my own images and memories.

Living in a remote location like Hawai'i, the great physical distance from "the mainland" sometimes conjures feelings of loneliness, separation and bittersweet memories of the people and places I've visited. While the act of engaging with the project explores themes of impermanence, release, memory and human connection, the images on the postcards themselves range from landscapes, to daily life to social documentary to abstractions.

The postcards are one of a kind 4x6" silver gelatin prints, printed in my darkroom at home in Maui from my own archive of negatives. Rather than being packed safely in an envelope, they are simply mailed as postcards. 

Leaving the delivery to chance engages the recipient and myself in an exercise of trust and release. When will it arrive? Will it arrive? What shape will it be in when it gets here?

This project offers me the chance to materialize particular images and themes held in my mind for some time, while being able to share them in an interactive way. A less immediate iteration of the "image and caption".

When ordered, the postcards are chosen at random for each recipient. The reverse side of the postcard will have a stamp, the recipient's address, and a personal note either describing the image, what I remember from the day I took the picture, a diary entry from that day, or what it makes me think of.

This project was inspired by a good friend who diligently sent postcards from each city she visited while on tour with a performance theatre company.

Collection #1

These images are landscapes found on Maui. I chose to focus on the land, the sky, and where the two meet. 

Collection #1.5

For this mini collection, I chose images from one of my favourite places on the island; Honolua Bay. There are many spots on the island that offer surfers desirable waves, but for spectators, the elevated overlook at Honolua is the best. 

Collection #2 

A two week trip to Japan with my wife served as the inspiration for this collection. Because we moved from Toronto to Maui so quickly after our wedding, this trip was our honeymoon. I didn't go on "photo-walks" or seek out any particular images, but certainly made a point to stop and take pictures during our daily travels. These are snapshots - a style of photography I haven't shared much, but have maintained as a practice for over ten years.