Whitby,
described as a “Haven under the Hill” by Whitby authoress
Mary Linskill, has changed little over the passage of
centuries. One of the few places in the world reminiscent of
footpaths and passages used since medieval times by knights,
abbots, monks, smugglers, mariners, merchants and
fisherfolk.
Roman
galleys found safe harbor here in the 1st century. Whitby
represents every period of English history from earliest
Anglo-Saxon dominion through the Danish and Norman Conquest.
Caedmon, the first English poet, is buried in the same
cemetery as townsfolk and monk of old under the silhouette of
Whitby Abbey. The monumental ruins can be seen from a
distance of miles in every direction perched atop the
windswept cliff. Since it’s founding in 656 by St.
Hilda, the first abbess, it became a place of learning and
religious importance. Here at the Synod of Whitby the
Roman Church set the date for Easter. Henry the VIII
dissolved the monastery but “ dared not to destroy the
sacred site”. Erosion oft times exposes a wooden
coffin jutting out of the side of the cliff. A haunting
scene in fog, mist and smoking chimneys Whitby Town provided
the setting for his novel “Dracula”. Bram Stoker the
author is included among other notable English writers, namely
Charles Dickens and Lewis Carol having visited, lived or
written here. Passages of “Alice in Wonderland” were
inspired from nearby “Sandsend”
During
one of the most prosperous periods during the 1800's, Whitby
was one of the principal ports of England, renown for
shipbuilding and whaling. James Cook began his seafaring
career from here and all three ships he used for his
explorations, scientific studies and circumnavigation from
1768-1780 were built here. Whitby shipyards had a reputation
for high standards and quality ship- building at this time.
Whitby ships were preferred by the British Admiralty
because of their proven seaworthiness. They fulfilled the
necessary requirements for long sea voyages that would take
cook from Whitby across to South America, to Patagonia and
Antartica, to New Zealand and Australia, Tahiti to the
Hawaiian Islands, Pacific Northwest, along the eastern Asian
coast and Japan, returning around the Cape of Good Hope. The
inventor of the Crows nest, Capt. William Scoresby, arctic
explorer also hails from Whitby.
Whitby’s
renown was well documented during the late 1800’s by Frank
Sutcliffe, one of the greatest Victorian photographers of that
era. His work provides a pictorial record and testimony
of a seafaring life, related trades and picturesque environs
at the turn of the last century. This period was the end of
the great shipbuilding, whaling and sailing era. A rich
portrait of a way of life that is now nearly lost.
Now 100 years later coupled with the declining fishing
industry, how has Whitby survived? There still remain
glimpses of this former life as real as yesteryear.
During
the 70’s and 80's, I have recorded glimpses of this almost
forgotten way of life and heard many stories. Many of the
shops and shopkeepers of Old England are now gone. Gone, but
unforgotten is James Grimes Cole. At age 92, the oldest
retired Whitby fisherman I met and photographed around 1972. A
decade later I photographed his son, Jake Cole, in his
seventies, also retired, shown in the photograph to the left
with his wife. It is my intention to record a third generation
of this family, the surviving son of Jake Cole, still a
fisherman? From the perspective of our entire heritage we are
now witnessing rapid changes and the death of a way of life
worldwide. If we do not chronicle these times in images
and words as creatively as in the past we will have lost an
important cultural portrait and inspiration. That is why I
feel it is important and challenging to make a visual history
working in a format that is a continuation of the earliest
photographic techniques. Some of the greatest images are from
this era. Using similar techniques and original equipment, the
stories can continue to be told in a very familiar way.
This
original format should continue to be supported and
encouraged. The wooden camera in the hands of a creative
photographer comes to life as an acceptable medium and will
always find a place within the field of great photography
past, present and future.
I was given a box camera to restore and use in 1971 by Bill
Eglon Shaw, owner of Sutcliffe Gallery because of my
enthusiasm and interest in old Whitby and in particular the
photography of Frank Sutcliffe, exhibited in his shop. I was
told the camera once belonged to F.M. Sutcliffe. As I
discovered Whitby many scenes remained unchanged from the days
of old. Soon after completing the restoration with the
help of a local craftsman, the first photographs I took were
thought to be original Sutcliffe by the local newspaper
editor. A controversy soon arose over the photographs and the
authenticity of the camera. How could an “American”
visiting in town wind up with F.M. Sutcliffs’ camera, a
local historical and national treasure. I owe that and
the start of my career in photography to the original
generosity of Bill Shaw, who at the time was also accountable
to the Whitby Historical Society. The provenance of the camera
in the end was left to the claim of a local antique dealer who
was now deceased.
The only certainty derived from the camera is the originality
of the photographs taken in 70’s and 80’, recently printed
almost 100 years after Sutcliffs’ era. From that first
photograph over 30 years ago to the present, I only have used
vintage cameras with wooden tripods, brass lens, wooden
shutters, etc. I learned this photography first hand from a
former Victorian photographer Claudius Morris of York who
instructed me his technique for hand capping the lens, about
apertures sizes and light, and how to develop negatives.
I am looking for support to return to England to continue this
photographic tradition in Whitby into the 21stCentury. Owing
to Whitbys’ isolation and self-sufficiency on the North Sea
could be one reason why Whitby has survived as a window into
past centuries and remains in tact as an ancient seaport
today. I hope to continue to exhibit the fishing community’s
rugged individual character, and record their rich heritage
steeped in history and tradition. Perhaps by sharing that same
timeless nature and local seascape experience that also
impacted the character of a James Cook, a quiet strength and
reverence of the sea and yesteryear is passed along. Or from a
single knowledge to be uncovered in the reminiscence of
another time communicated in a narrow street or yard, between
two mates, about the weather, “winkles”, a Whitby lass or
lad, or a Whitby lifeboat rescue is reason enough.
What is the extent of the socioeconomic, political and
technological pressures for change in the modern world having
on Whitby today? I am only certain of one thing. I will be
sure to continue to take portraits for the preservation of
what is in my view, their national treasure, in the faces and
stories of their past and present. To exhibit their spirit to
the world as a light for others to appreciate and a testimony
to a way of life that still exists in the 21st century we can
all respect and be proud of.
A commitment and focus to record a historical heritage that
needs to be restored and acknowledged. As societies become
more dependent on technology, we can lose touch with another
life that is vital, essential for our understanding and
welfare. There is a need for mutual understanding, accountable
leadership and responsibility that can guide nations and
people in unity with cultural exchange or continue with the
usual trappings of politics, isolation, alienation, inequity
and misunderstanding. It starts with knowing the past
accurately as important as what is going on today. The most
important stories I find are told in the noble faces
contributing to peace whose ancestors have been grievously
wronged, displaced, or mistreated throughout history and to
this day. I support their cause for recognition and encourage
them to continue to lead in peace and dignity with the
demonstration of their cultural heritage. I have tried to do
that in my photography to cross borders, boundaries, and
barriers for unity: to see across race, class, religion etc.
and photograph for the more important cause for peace. I
photograph because I love view camera photography, the people
and places I photograph.
I
am including a portfolio on Whitby, the starting point of this
project, and another on American Indians of the Narragansett
Nation in Rhode Island for the completion. Many photographs
were taken at the last Pow Wows of the 20th Century and the
first of the 21st Century in the Northeast. The Narragansett
shared a common language with the inhabitants of Cape Cod, of
the present day Mashpee Indians, Wampanoag. They are the
present day descendents of the original natives that would
have been present in the area along the eastern coast at the
time the last Whitby built ship “Endeavor” reached
Newport. Both the “Resolution” and the “ Endeavor”
originating from Whitby found their way to America after the
British Admiralty decommissioned them soon after Cooks death.
This last ship used by the greatest explorer of that era may
have been recently located at the bottom of the harbor in
Newport, Rhode Island. While the story of Cook and Whitby
ships may be renewed with their rediscovery, I am focused on
the indigenous people today, uncovering these descendants, of
those natives whose lives would be forever changed and
transformed by those explorations, scientific studies and
subsequent colonizations.
From
Whitby I will retrace Capt. Cooks` circumnavigation across 7 continents My purpose is to record the descendants of the indigenous people that Capt. Cook in his oak Whitby built sailing ships would have encountered in his voyage around the world over
200 years ago. And reveal in their faces and expressions their story that brings us into the 21st Century.
The
photographs in the portfolio are from two of the oldest tribes
of the Northeast. The Narragansett who are recognized by the
Federal government and the Mashpee Wampanoog who are
unrecognized, even though they have been established on Cape
Cod for over 350 years and have been sometimes referred to
historically as “South Seas Indians.” Two of the
photographs were received and acknowledged by President
Clinton in 1999. One titled “Little Chief, Prayer for
Wampanoag recognition’’ and the other a portrait of ‘‘
Chief Seventh Hawk’’ of the Narragansett.
Giovanni di Verrazzano provided the first known-recorded
description of these people in 1524.
He had sailed along most of the East Coast and wrote….
“These
people are the most beautiful and have the most civil customs
that we have found on this voyage. They are taller than we
are; they are a bronze color, some tending more toward
whiteness, others to a tawny color; the face is clear-cut; the
hair is long and black, and they take great pains to decorate
it; the eyes are black and alert, and their manner is sweet
and gentle, very much like the manner of the ancients. I
shall not speak to Your Majesty of the other parts of the
body, since they have all the proportions belonging to any
well-built man. Their women are just as shapely and
beautiful; very gracious, of attractive manner and pleasant
appearance; their customs and behavior follow womanly custom
as far as befits human nature; they go nude except for a stag
skin embroidered like the men's, and some wear rich lynx skins
on their arms; their bare heads are decorated with various
ornaments made of braids of their own hair which hang down
over their breasts on either side. Some have other hair
arrangements such as the women of Egypt and Syria wear, and
these women are older and have been joined in wedlock.
Both men and women have various trinkets hanging from their
ears as the Orientals do; and we saw that they had many sheets
of worked copper, which they prize more than gold . . . . They
are very generous and give away all they have. We made
great friends with them, and one day before we entered the
harbor with the ship, when we were lying at anchor one league
out to sea because of unfavorable weather, they came out to
the ship with a great number of their boats; they had painted
and decorated their faces with various colors, showing us that
it was a sign of happiness.” (Wroth 1970:138)
The
present day Mashpee descendants are somewhere between this
earliest known description of a noble sovereign people by
Verrazzano and one by contrast having suffered epidemic,
dislocation, resulting in famine, deprivation, as subjects to
the Laws of the General Court. This condition was reflected in
a petition to the General Court of Massachusetts in 1774-76.
In protest over the guardianship of Indian affairs recorded
…
“We poor Indians Entreat the great Court at Boston to
remove those gentlemen the Honble Coll. Bourn Jeans Otis Eq.,
and Mr. Crocker From being our Guardians, for we are more hirt
since they have intermeddled about our lands and meadows, for
we are now destitute, and likely to starve to death with
hunger or for want, for they stop our money, and we lived
better before they come, and when they first come we was still
and hoped we should then do better, but now we see we are
poorer. We do humbly beseech our Honourable Rulers to take
care of us that they may not have power to sell our land to
any for we never desire that it should be sold but that we and
our children may live upon it if god be willing. We have never
been against the English but united with them against their
enemies, therefore we hope you will help.” (MA 31:102)
The
Mashpee Wampanoag have occupied the same area of Cape Cod for
over 350 years. They are among over 100 tribes that are still
unrecognized in the year 2001. They expect Federal Recognition
at any time. This will come after their land in perpetuity was
taken away because they were not recognized as a “tribe”
as recently as 1978.
Cape
Cod is many things to many people. One of the recent
references today is “the silicon sandbar.” For me having
lived in Mashpee it will always remain the “Land of the
Wampanoag” who traditionally welcomed the first Pilgrims in
their land.
“
Loving,, Tender and Spiritual is the way of Native People.
That is the way it is. For their survival, it must be
that way. If you become like the people you’re fighting and
it is not that way, it is the wrong way! ” Chief Earl
Mills, former Chief of the Mashpee, Wampanoag. March 23, 2001.
It
has been almost 100 years since Edward Curtis photographed
American Indians. Now 100 years later, almost forgotten, the
tribes of the Northeast are entering the 21st century. By
using a camera from this earliest period, a contemporary to
Edward Curtis and Frank Sutcliff, an original image tied to
the past is maintained to portray this re-emergence with
integrity. By keeping alive this photographic standard in
sepia and at the same time creating what I call Photo-ionographs
is a complementary new genre for opening this new era. Using
both formats I am committed to focusing on the unrecognized,
forgotten and indigenous people to create the highest
standards and finest work that can represent this expression
and story.
My
goal is to primarily keep humanity in focus increasing
recognition of surviving cultures, for restoring visual
heritage and a visual history creating social and political
consciousness for greater understanding. Creating images for
education, for art and for enrichment not only for native
populations but also equally as an American, for our cultural
heritage for present and future generations. My goal is to
compile a collection of original photography, to produce a
book or books including several exhibitions to edify and
enrich this heritage encouraging unity and peace in the 21st
Century.
I
will make myself available as well as my photography for
gallery exhibition, print, and joint venture considering new
projects. At the same time advancing cultural restoration and
awareness advocating the rights for diversity and
respecting cultural integrity, I encourage the fusion of
cultural diversity to be the melting pot in the new millenium,
the potpourri and the potter to help form and shape a
colorful new world for the 21st century that will be equally
exciting and beneficial to all.
I
am requesting sponsorship or support to continue this effort.
I am dedicating myself primarily to the projects I have
described. My photography while derivative from the techniques
of early photography is contemporary for the 21ST Century. It
is both appreciated and has won support with Indigenous
People, and a Nation, the Narragansett, to share their story.
As I improvise and refine my work I always attempt to maintain
this original tradition .My hope is that what I offer too will
become timeless, original and recognizable. I need your
support in anyway possible.
Sincerely Yours,
Dominic
Alessandra
E-mail
dominic@excite.com
Web-site
http://www.paxcorps.com
I also would like to acknowledge and thank the many
individuals and supporters of my photography who in good faith
have cooperated and trusted me to photograph them and have
encouraged me to continue my work. Especially to Chief Sachem
Seventh Hawk, Running Wolf and the Tribal Council of the
Narragansett, Hiawatha, Crawling Wolf, the late Lucille C.
Stanton Dawson and individuals like Great Horned Owl, Candece,
Weenaatainnini, June, Keon, Hebert Waters Jr., and Vanessa of
the Mashpee Wampanoag.
I am grateful to the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
for a grant and award from their Artists’ Resource Trust
that allowed me to continue my work last year and has brought
me to the threshold of a first exhibition planned latter this
year 2001.
I thank Steven Albahari, publisher of the “Journal of
Contemporary Photography” for his review, guidance,
and support. And especially my gratitude to Tim Daley of
Millstone Press for selecting my work for limited editions to
be released into the 21stCentury who specializes in Fine Art
Printing representing the highest quality in Iris printing
available today.
To Dale and Eric and The Buffalo Big Print for their high
quality reproduction and work on the first large format photo-ionographs
I am also grateful.
I also would like to thank Manny Louro of IKON Office
Solutions and the office personnel for their support and the
use of their copy machine to make the quality reproduction in
this printed format.
The photographs and material in this publication are protected
by copyright. All rights reserved. No unauthorized
reproduction or use of this material is permitted without the
expressed authorization, written consent or approval of
Dominic Alessandra, i.e. Paxcorps Publications, Ionographs
copyright 2001.
