I found it intoieresting how from distant vantage points the Schuylkill River looks flat, static, immobile, despite it obviously being both liquid and in motion. I realized it’s partly this reduction effect that leads to pollution and misguided waterways management policies. The Schuylkill is a vital part of the ecosystem, but if it’s simply a background object in the minds of most people it becomes reduced. It becomes a thing that stands in the way of human progress or an annoyance needing to be channeled and shaped. A thing that can be used as a tool to remove waste.
I realized early on that I was stopping and taking pictures of this specific spot on the riverbank and that it changed so much every time I saw it. The river became more a living thing to me and that raised all sorts of questions in my mind about how we humans were affecting it by trying to shape it to our will. Filmed from September to December, this video shows up close the river’s dynamism. Like the ebb and flow of a tide, one sees the seasonal changes and back again.
