Jan Smith Nouadhibou Where ships go to die
وبيذاون
Cover Image Vessel 10, Nouadhibou (detail) Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper 36 x 53cm Edition /5Â 2008
Jan Smith is a Mexican born photographer who lives in Mexico City and Sao Paulo, Brazil and works wherever his assignments take him to, often far flung places such as Gunkanjima, Japan and Kolmanskop, Namibia. Focusing on aesthetics and composition, while simultaneoulsy incorporating jounalistic attributes, such as interviews and historical investigation into his location research, Smith captures places that are historically important but pushed to the back of social memory. Drawing out beauty in the absurd, the abandoned and even the repressed his work focuses on the idea of the archaeology of memory.
Place of the Jackal - this is the translation of the name of the town of Nouadhibou in Mauritania. Once a fishing village, Nouadhibou is now a large industrial port and the world’s largest ship cemetery, with more than 500 abandoned wrecks floating in its waters. The irony of the name, and the image of scavenging predators that it invokes, is not lost on Smith, who had to endure many adventures to eventually capture these images of destruction. Smith focuses his lens on a variety of floating vessels, rusted and covered in barnacle. Abandoned, floating with no purpose other than to finally sink, these vessels have outlived their usefulness. Like lovers, these wrecks cling to each another in a hope of staying afloat. Smith uses the dichotomy of hope in the face of despair as the basis for his compositions. Whilst his photographs portray these vessels as still majestic and powerful, heroically denying their fate, there is no doubt in the viewers mind that the ominous rising swell of the black sea will be the final victor. There are many visual stories to present from Nouadhibou. This one is about the abandoned ships, and finding beauty in what is meant to be forgotten.
Nouadhibou A series of twenty photographs
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In June 2008 I travelled to Nouadhibou to photograph its boats. Although only a few miles south of the Morrocan border, in Maurititania, access is difficult and adventuresome. I traveled south by land from Casablanca, Morocco but was turned away at the border. With my camera in tow I was accused of episonage. Nobody believed I traveled to the remoteness of Nouadhibou to simply take pictures of rotting ships. After a night in a mine field and a brief stint in detention, I returned to Casablanca and managed to fly into Nouakchott. There, with the help of two strangers I met at the airport, I succeeded in travelling north to Nouadhibou. It was impossible to ignore the inequalities around me. Slavery was formally re-abolished in 1981, but is still manifest in its most docile form as indentured service. Furthermore, illegal immigrants build miles of shacks on the beach, where they dry and husk octopus and rays for markets in Asia. All the while they scavange oil drums to build rafts to float to the Canary Islands. Many who try, die. Amongst all of this are the ships; originally a vestige of a nationalized fishing industry that found it cheaper to abandon its fleet than service it. This then provided cover for foreign companies to scuttle ships and fradulently claim insurance.
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Vessel 1, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 2, Nouadhibou Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper 36 x 53cm Edition /5Â 2008
Vessel 3, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 4, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 5, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 6, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 7, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 8, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 9, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 10, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 11, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 12, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 13, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 14, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 15, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 16, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 17, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 18, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 19, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Vessel 20, Nouadhibou, Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper, 36 x 53cm, Edition /5Â ,2008
Exhibitions List Co-Existence Erdmann Contemporary, Cape Town 2014 Crossing the Divide Erdmann Contemporary & The Photographers Gallery za, Cape Town 2013 Joburg Art Fair Johannesburg 2013 The Long Goodbye (Short Essays of Decay) Dali International Photography Exhibition, China 2013 La Comedia Urbana Espacio Alianza Francesa, Mexico D.F. 2013 Nuclear Disaster Stories The Photographers Gallery za & Erdmann Contemporary, Cape Town 2012 Tours de Cesio Galeria Eudardo Fernandes, Sao Paolo 2012 Behind the Atom Curtain Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2012 Collective Espacio Mayo Viedro, Mexico D.F. 2012 Sustainable Future Fountain Art Fair, Miami 2012 Desiertos, Historias Urbanas Espacio Alianza Frencesa, Mexico D.F.(National Tour) 2011 Nouadhibou Keller William Space, Miami 2010 Nouadhibou Galeria Mesa Fine Art, Dominican Republic 2010 Ausencia y Abandono Galeria Eduardo Fernandes, Sao Paolo 2010 Gunkanjima Patio de la Fototeca, Zacatecas 2010 Gunkanjima Galeria Bateau Mouche, Toluca 2010 Gunkanjima Galeria lbero, Puebla 2010 Zihuatlali Casa Francia, Mexico D.F. 2010 Fotodialogo Museu de Arte Contemporanea de Campnas, Brazil 2010 Mexico Vivo Museum of Modern Art, Mexico D.F. 2010 Japon 400 Anos Espacio Epson Mexico D.F. 2010 Gunkanjima Espacio Cultural Japon, Mexico D.F. 2009 Pop, Density 5km/km2 Galeria Nina Menocal, Mexico D.F. 2009 Collective Burn Gallery, New York 2009 Collective PX3 Sema Topaloglu Studio, Istanbul 2009 Collective PX3 Espace Dupon, Paris 2009 Nouadhibou Galeria Piso 51, Mexico D.F. 2008 Ausencia y Abandano Galeria Uno, Mexico D.F. 2007 Collective Atelier Art Gallery, Miami 2007
Publications The Metropolist, 2015 Interview with Jan Smith SP-Arte Catalogue 2013 SP-Arte Catalogue 2012 PhotoParis Catalogue 2012 Arte Rio Catalogue 2012 Mexico Vivo Catalogue 2012 FotoSeptiembre Catalogue 2011 Arte Rio Catalogue 2011 SP-Arte Catalogue 2011 Chernobyl Sufing Ponchiroli Editorial, Milano 2011 PhotoImagen Catalogue 2010 Mexico Vivo Catalogue 2010 FotoSeptiembre Catalogue 2009 /fiti/seotuenbre Catalogue 2007 Awards Finalist Photography Biennale, Mexico 2012 Jury Merit Award, Grand Prix de la Decouverte 2012 Admitted to Atomic Photographers Guild 2012 Winner Places, Onelife PDN/Artist Wanted 2010 Best Exhibition for Nouadhibou, PhotoImagen Caribe 2010 Honorable Mention, Photoggrapher’s Forum 2009 Merit of Excellence, Colour Magazine 2009 First Place, Fine Art Book Proposal 2009 International Photography Award, First place, People 2007 International Photography Award, Second place, Aerial 2007 International Color Photography Awards, Honorable mention 2007 Black & White Spider Awards, Honor of Distinction
Back Page Image: Vessel 10, Nouadhibou (detail) Pigment ink print on archival cotton paper 36 x 53cm Edition /5Â 2008
All Images Copyrighted All Rights Reserved - Š Jan Smith 2008 Designed By Jannah Ruthven ErdmannContemporary Internship Programme 2015
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