Beach Finds

This photo series, Beach Finds, is all from the beach of my hometown in Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland, from walks I took in the early spring of 2021. Particularly after storms, there would be an abundance of garbage washed ashore. I found a stick from a Buried Treasure ice cream treat that I had not seen since the 1980s; fabric flowers that had blown from the town’s seaside cemeteries into the water and back to land; hand-woven fishing nets that were now grounded; a tampon applicator that reminded me of the first one I ever saw as a child, on that same beach; and various litter from the town’s Main Street, right where the tourist lookout is, snarled in bare rose bushes. Rocky Harbour is centrally located in Gros Morne National Park, which is known for its epic and pristine beauty. My photos are about more intimate moments of discovery and seeing beauty in, or despite, garbage.