Parrish Dobson

The earth breathes.  The ocean breathes.  All creatures and plants breathe.  I live by the sea four months each year.  Wanting to move my photographs of the ocean in a new direction, I began making cyanotypes from the different kinds of kelp found along the coast of Maine.  I am fascinated by the variety of shapes, textures, and forms. Various species of kelp attach to the ocean floor with “holdfasts” which are themselves complete eco systems with thousands of tiny forms of life. I place the kelps directly on watercolor paper that has been coated with the cyanotype chemicals. With pressure from the glass and heat of the sun, some of the kelp minerals leach into the paper, creating unexpected subtle colors in the sea of cyan blue.  As we now know, kelp serves as a food for humans, as a fertilizer for soil, and as an addition to feed for cows and sheep, substantially reducing methane emissions from those animals.  Penobscot Bay aquaculture farms are helping not only the local economy, but our country’s land and air.  These images celebrate the beauty of kelp, its particular mysteries, and its central role in the health our planet.