Fuzzy Flora

An ongoing documentation project in Puerto Rico that uses rescued expired film, damaged by Hurricane Maria, to explore what has grown back since the storms.

"The day after the hurricane hit Puerto Rico, I went out with my dad to try and find a bucket for our mop. The storm was over, but my parent's home would slowly continue to flood for weeks to come - the ground saturated to such excess that the water crept through the walls and floor. What I saw on that first drive to town still makes me feel like crying. It looked like Connecticut in the winter, a sea of battered, leafless trees, an ocean of brown that was usually only green. 

Months later the island's recovery was slowly moving forward, the leaves were back, and everywhere you looked was a familiar expanse of brilliant green. During those months I came across a local photo store tearing out their severely water-damaged walls, cabinets, and display cases. The debris all sat in a small mountain outside and included boxes of water-logged, expired film destined for a landfill. I took as much as I could hold. 

September 2019 marks two years since Hurricane Maria, and around the island, the outward signs of devastation have begun to fade. These photographs, taken with the film I collected, continue to display the physical traces of the storm; its unpredictable nature an apt medium to document the fuzzy things that have grown back. "

Published in Feeeels Magazine, 2019.