June 29, 2011
A very pleasant evening chatting with five ladies (Edith S., Phyllis S., Ethol S., Majorie G., Ruth J.). It was more like an introduction for me. I plan to get back to them later on and talk more about Pouch Cove. Generally they felt Igor was just another storm. They said Pouch Cove is too high to get any damage from the sea. They all said they had seen storms worse than Igor.
Audio: A5PCP Silver Thread (19 min)
June 30, 2011
Shirley B.
July 4, 2011
Shirley B. is a very good friend. She is very active and very knowledgeable and is our senior member of the Heritage Committee. She goes to the elementary school and talks to grade 4 students about what life was like for her when she was growing up in Pouch Cove. I accompanied her to the school on June 6. The students were very attentive to her stories, and asked questions. What I noticed throughout the session was how eager the students were to make some sort of connections with Shirley by asking "do you know my pop and nan, they are ....".
Audio: A1PCP1 (55 min)
Shirley B. is a very good friend. She is very active and very knowledgeable and is our senior member of the Heritage Committee. She goes to the elementary school and talks to grade 4 students about what life was like for her when she was growing up in Pouch Cove. I accompanied her to the school on June 6. The students were very attentive to her stories, and asked questions. What I noticed throughout the session was how eager the students were to make some sort of connections with Shirley by asking "do you know my pop and nan, they are ....".
Audio: A1PCP1 (55 min)
Ken Pittmen's Documentary
June 29, 2011
It was a GRAND day as they would say it here. I got to take part in Ken Pittmen's documentary production "seal and men". Ken is a film maker, very well known in Newfoundland. He and I did a little bit of a location scout in Pouch Cove for this documentary. We were looking for a clapboard house with an authentic 1920 style window. They need to capture the image of an anonymous woman standing in a window looking out to sea. One shot taken from inside the house and one taken from outside the house. We settled for two houses and the producer approved the merchant's house. I know the people there and the owner was happy to be the "standing in" person. I was given a camera to document the shoot and helped out whatever way I could. I even stood on a scaffolding to dismantle the poles that held up the green screen. It took close to 4 hours (3 people) to do two 5 second shots.
It was a great experience for me. I would be thrilled to be able to do a project with Ken.
June 27, 2011
Edith S.
June 27, 2011
Edith S. Her husband was a fisherman/carpenter. People had to be very resourceful when living in a place like Pouch Cove. People built their own homes. Her father-in-law said to her and her husband to make sure to build the entrance big enough to allow the coffin to be carried in and out. Edith was the only person who graduated Grade 11 and she was very proud of that. When she first went to school, the school house had only one room. When the second room was added, they moved into the SUF hall. She was able to do some teaching when she was raising her first child. Her husband went sealing for four springs. Sealers were allowed to sell flippers to earn extra money.
Edith S. Her husband was a fisherman/carpenter. People had to be very resourceful when living in a place like Pouch Cove. People built their own homes. Her father-in-law said to her and her husband to make sure to build the entrance big enough to allow the coffin to be carried in and out. Edith was the only person who graduated Grade 11 and she was very proud of that. When she first went to school, the school house had only one room. When the second room was added, they moved into the SUF hall. She was able to do some teaching when she was raising her first child. Her husband went sealing for four springs. Sealers were allowed to sell flippers to earn extra money.
Edith S. invited me to attend the Silver Thread (55+ Club in Pouch Cove) social on Wednesday night to meet some people.
Audio: A3PCP3a and b (50 min)
June 22, 2011
Stella W.
June 22, 2011
I will ask people to describe Pouch Cove in one word, or a sentence and see what people have to say. I did a similar thing on Fogo Island. Here are the names of people whom I will approach:
Shirely B., Stella W., Edith S., Herb H., Sue G., Russel L., Ap V., Sharon W., Elke D., Bernie P., David B., Barbara B.
I have been talking to them all the time and they are so open to talk. But as soon as I mention the project in a more formal way about recording, consensus and so on, some of them become a bit reluctant to take part. I do not feel comfortable to pursue and will wait to talk to them again.
Stella W. was not comfortable having her name or voice to be used. But she was ok for me to use the narrative for the work. She got some water problem during Igor - water in the crawl space and it cleared out on its own. She had to bail out water though. Town people were quick to come over to check on her.
Sense of place for Stella was the community, the people who help out one another.
Audio: A2PCP2a and b (20 min)
I will ask people to describe Pouch Cove in one word, or a sentence and see what people have to say. I did a similar thing on Fogo Island. Here are the names of people whom I will approach:
Shirely B., Stella W., Edith S., Herb H., Sue G., Russel L., Ap V., Sharon W., Elke D., Bernie P., David B., Barbara B.
I have been talking to them all the time and they are so open to talk. But as soon as I mention the project in a more formal way about recording, consensus and so on, some of them become a bit reluctant to take part. I do not feel comfortable to pursue and will wait to talk to them again.
Stella W. was not comfortable having her name or voice to be used. But she was ok for me to use the narrative for the work. She got some water problem during Igor - water in the crawl space and it cleared out on its own. She had to bail out water though. Town people were quick to come over to check on her.
Sense of place for Stella was the community, the people who help out one another.
Audio: A2PCP2a and b (20 min)
June 19, 2011
place and identity
Pouch Cove is a special place, a place I feel I belong, grounded, rooted, and "right" being there. Where do these feelings come from? Is it because of the geographical location of the place, being so unique - the last town on the peninsula, the most northeasterly point of North America, the end of the road, the edge of the world. What is behind the extremeness that makes Pouch Cove so special to me and to others? I want to explore this feeling by talking to people of Pouch Cove, and to create a work that provides meaning to the people who live here. My summer independent study project is to explore this relationship between place and the people who live in the place, through memory of the people who live there, and the history of the place. I know this is a broad idea and expect this idea will be defined more as I go along further with the project.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)