Lewis Chaplin

the Tristans is an ongoing, multi-faceted project involving direct discussion and collaboration with the people of Tristan Da Cunha - the most remote inhabited place in the world. Tristan Da Cunha is an active volcanic island no bigger than Manhattan, located in the middle of the Pacific ocean, a 14-day boat voyage away. The Tristans are British, using the pound sterling and the charming postcode of TDCU 1ZZ for the whole island - there are 250 of them, and seven surnames. Tristan Da Cunha now stands on the frontline in the battle against cultural hybridization and postmodernism, as they cling to the post-colonial remnant that is their island.

The project initially started from my involvement in both the fields of Anthropology and Photography, and the idea of attempting to bridge the gap between the two - most specifically the pursuits of representation and truth held within each. I am interested in how to represent and deal with notions of otherness and distance for a place I have never experienced, and how to handle a subject matter that is physically inaccessible. In my exploration and fascination with this place and its people, Tristan begins to feel more and more like a constructed fantasy, or an atemporal space rather than a physical entity of real people. I want to explore this abstract, dreamlike relationship with other worlds and other cultures, and the idealized visions held in faraway places.

The initial stage of this project evolved as a multimedia installation, utilising and playing with collage, found imagery and reference materials to evoke a sense of place and atmosphere, while abstractly revealing details of everyday life on the island. The second part is currently in progress and involves direct collaboration with the residents of the island. Included here is a selection of ephemera from the project, including original scans, collages and resources.