Archive
By Danielle Mericle
64 pages, 36 color illustrations
Hard cover, 7.5 x 5.5 inches
By Danielle Mericle
64 pages, 36 color illustrations
Hard cover, 7.5 x 5.5 inches
ISBN 978-0-9777655-5-3
Edition of 500
Retail: $25
Edition of 500
Retail: $25
Archive tells a story about vanishing civilizations and the complex relationship
between history, knowledge, and power. Shot in Peru, these
photographs intertwine decaying manuscripts, an archeological
site, and an indigenous agrarian workers’ strike. Though
seemingly unrelated, the images are directly connected—the
workers, concerned about land and water rights, cannot
claim ownership to their land without access to the increasingly
fragile manuscripts. Meanwhile, the manuscripts in the
archives continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate,.
The archeological site reveals a mysteriously vanquished
culture, most likely due to severe drought, the very phenomenon
which threatens the indigenous cultures today.
The photographs in Archive speak to frustrated attempts to preserve, decode, and convey historical records. Written history, as utilitarian preserver of culture, is as tenuous and fragile as the paper it’s recorded on, while the stones of an ancient civilization—and those used by the striking workers to block roadway passage— mutter incoherently about lessons learned and lost.
The photographs in Archive speak to frustrated attempts to preserve, decode, and convey historical records. Written history, as utilitarian preserver of culture, is as tenuous and fragile as the paper it’s recorded on, while the stones of an ancient civilization—and those used by the striking workers to block roadway passage— mutter incoherently about lessons learned and lost.