The Minnow
All of the images in this series were taken on August 31st, 2017 on Nauset Beach, Cape Cod between 11:18 am and 1:33 pm. The last image I made that day was of a dead minnow that had for a moment washed ashore in the surf. I remember I almost didn't notice it, having been mesmerized by the growing swell for the past couple of hours.
A year later, sorting through an old hard drive of images, I almost didn't notice it again but something about the minnow image held my attention - the eye of the small fish gazing up through the lens of the camera and the idea that I so easily could have never seen it there. If I had been a couple steps down the beach, or standing in the exact same spot a few seconds later, or one of the other seemingly infinite scenarios that would have led to the missed encounter. I started to think about what else I could have missed. As I began to look closer at the rest of the images from that day, the minnow became an important theme. A theme of fragility, chance, life, death, and time. Looking through these lenses, the photos from a typically cliche summer beach day on the cape began to stand out to me.
Ultimately this is a series of overlooked images that have developed in meaning over time. Looking back I realize that on that day in August there was quite a bit that I did miss. I only saw the waves at first, and now when I look back I see the people. I think in a way, we are the minnow - small and perhaps unnoticeable in the grand sweep of time, yet have the power to impact those who stop to take a closer look.
The Minnow series is dedicated to the life of my good friend Josh Gross, who continues to impact my approach on living.
