_____ "The past is never dead. It's not even past." / William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun.
A powerful sense of place, and, the historic context, are central in Mary Moore's work. In her photographic series of various 'historic locations' (open-ended photo project The Old Places) for instance, Moore sometimes uses archival images in juxtaposition to her own photographs, 'found pictures', or old family snapshots. Though she uses both digital and classic photographic and printing techniques, she finds the latter two combined with the initial sourcing and production, better project the sense of timelessness and intimacy she attempts to create. Striving to reflect collective memory and experience in all of her work, drawings, paintings, photos, Moore deals with some of the great metaphors of life such as Death, Memory, Decay, Loss, and Renewal.
In Search of Places of Contemplation
Interludium errans
A period of research and development.
.... of the Living and the Dead: Ghosts of Enon Ridge and others
Photographs of once vibrant, cohesive neighbourhoods, now decimated by decades of economic decline, racism, post-industrialism, and poor city planning.
From the concrete to the metaphysical, both historical and autobiographical, this project deals with aspects of Decline, Loss, Memory, and Renewal.
City Things/ The Old Places
On-going photographic series includes: 'the Rotterdam Photographs', street finds, interiors, cemeteries, parks, portraits, and others.
Park Schoonoord
Schoonoord was planted as the private garden for the banker's family Mees of Rotterdam (design: J.D. Zocher jr.) in 1860. Now a city park, it has been under the protection of the Department of Municipal Works since 1973.
Spanning a period of more than two decades, this project is a 'cycle' (The Backyard Chronicle) of photographs, and includes the experimental work that developed out of it.
Ypenhof
Ypenhof: 'the beginning'.
Although quite some years old now, this project deserves mentioning because it kick-started my interest in photography and local history. By researching the rise and demise of Ypenhof, I learned a great deal about Rotterdam's shipping industry, banking system, and, social and cultural development. This very rewarding way of learning advanced my understanding of 'place'. It also became an essential tool in helping me to formulate my own visual vocabulary.