SALT IN OUR VEINS 

Harpswell, Maine 

DUE NORTH PROJECT shows what it means to have salt in our veins. Salt has a way of carving its surroundings while shaping the nature of individual identities and the collective experience. The depths of the North Atlantic define moments, lifetimes, generations, families, communities, and cultures. Due North began as a collection of stories, experiences, moments and reflections of individuals and communities with strong ties to the sea. Due North will continue to evolve and change with the ebb and flow of the world around us, showing what it means to live our lives by the tides.

The concept of duality, in relation to our connection with the ocean, is something that I explore in my work: the way the tides change everyday, but are consistent in their change; the way island communities are defined by individuals who are both fiercely independent and strongly interconnected; the way fishermen struggle to preserve their heritage, while evolving within today’s world; the way the ocean isolates and connects us to faraway places.

“I really don’t know why it is that all of you are so committed to the sea, except I think it’s because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it’s because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea – whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are going back from whence we came.” – JFK