Chattooga River
Map
Map
Story & Experience
(Frances Bukovsky is one of the members of Kinship Photography Collection who participated in this year’s Global Earth Exchange)
On June 17th I was photographing on the Chatooga River, a place I had never been before. The previous night I had walked along the banks looking for a campsite and the depths of the night accompanied by the ominous sound of a river that I couldn’t see impressed upon me the presence of the river. In the light of the morning a friend and I wandered down to where the river crossed beneath an overpass.
The sheen of oil caught my eye in this pool, not more than 20 feet from where I had just been photographing small fry who were curiously chasing my finger as I traced circles in the water. Something about the juxtaposition of the fragile beginnings of life in one pool and the effects of pollution in another stuck with me as I continued to photograph in this place, cars rushing overhead, the sound of tires mingling with starlings swooping in stunning sunlight.
Later on, I was curious about pollution in the Chatooga, and I did a little research about the current health of the river. I found that recently a textile mill pledged to stop discharging PFAS this year, after being sued for discharging pollutants without a permit. I’ve linked an article about it below, as I found it fascinating that the mill was willing to work alongside local communities to resolve the pollution issue.
https://www.francesbukovsky.com/about
(Frances Bukovsky is one of the members of Kinship Photography Collection who participated in this year’s Global Earth Exchange)
On June 17th I was photographing on the Chatooga River, a place I had never been before. The previous night I had walked along the banks looking for a campsite and the depths of the night accompanied by the ominous sound of a river that I couldn’t see impressed upon me the presence of the river. In the light of the morning a friend and I wandered down to where the river crossed beneath an overpass.
The sheen of oil caught my eye in this pool, not more than 20 feet from where I had just been photographing small fry who were curiously chasing my finger as I traced circles in the water. Something about the juxtaposition of the fragile beginnings of life in one pool and the effects of pollution in another stuck with me as I continued to photograph in this place, cars rushing overhead, the sound of tires mingling with starlings swooping in stunning sunlight.
Later on, I was curious about pollution in the Chatooga, and I did a little research about the current health of the river. I found that recently a textile mill pledged to stop discharging PFAS this year, after being sued for discharging pollutants without a permit. I’ve linked an article about it below, as I found it fascinating that the mill was willing to work alongside local communities to resolve the pollution issue.
https://www.francesbukovsky.com/about
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