The Island documents life on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The long and narrow string of barrier islands for many is a vacation destination. For me, it is much more. The Island is my connection to a place that like the tide has its highs and lows. It is a place where I fell in love and married. Now I am trying to discover the peculiar qualities that make me so fascinated by this skinny strip of land out in the Atlantic.

The Outer Banks is undergoing changes from both human forces and mother nature. Over the years the dunes protecting the island have eroded from the hands of over-development and by the force of the ocean. Today, residents of the island are undergoing a heated debate about re-nourishing those dunes and protecting the island from the unforgiving waves of the Atlantic or letting mother nature take her course and the ocean taking what was once hers. No matter the outcome of this heated debate this project serves as an important documentation as the sands of time change and shift the shape of the island.

Armed with my Hasselblad, these photos are what I experience in my daily outings on the island. Only time will tell if anything is left of a place I once called and still consider my home away from home. I can only hope the island is around for generations to come, but even if it is not, this project will be a testament of what once stood at the mercy of the Atlantic Ocean.