Wits end

What a day. What a week. I am happy to put this one behind me. I’ve had some set backs and some frustrations this week—they just seem to kept coming.

First, I spent most of the week trying to catch up with one of the subjects of the documentary, but he seemed to be avoiding me.

Wednesday, the RMS was in town so I went to the wharf to shoot it as it left the harbor. As I was leaving the wharf, I dropped my sunglasses without realizing it. Retracing my steps I found a my sunglasses smashed into a thousand pieces—they’d been run over by the shuttle that brings the passengers from customs to the wharf. My eyes are sensitive to bright light so I tried to buy a new pair, but all the dark ones have been sold. Now, I am just squinting.

The next day, I was driving down Ladder Hill and my car cut off three times. Ladder Hill is a steep road on a mountain above Jamestown. Many parts of Ladder Hill are just one lane, so there are a few designated spots where cars can pull over to let uphill traffic pass. After the third time, I figured out that the car cut off whenever it was in idle. It was a bit terrifying driving down the mountainside, so I had the car taken care of straight away. It ended up being an issue with a pressurized hose that connects to the choke.

Also on Thursday, a cruise ship was in the harbor with 1,800 passengers and crew. I couldn’t wait to see what this was going to look like. Even if only 300 came to shore, Jamestown would be quite a hopping place. The seas were rough and the captain of the ship decided not to send launches of tourists to the wharf where the water rises and falls 3-4 feet with each passing swell. Many on the island were disappointed by the missed opportunity for revenue, but mostly people just laughed apathetically and said it happens all the time. This is actually the second time this cruise ship has called on St Helena, and it’s the second time its passengers were unable to come to shore. Since the airport has been place on hold, many want to see the improvements made to the wharf so cruise ships can land passengers. Cruise ships might not bring significant lasting revenues to islands, but for a place as remote as St Helena, any revenue increase is needed. I don’t know how much improvements to the wharf would cost, but I doubt potential cruise ship and yachtie revenue could come close to offsetting the investment. For yachts, St Helena is already an expensive place to hail with anchorage fees, immigration fees and even fees for health insurance while on the island.

Today it became obvious that my main subject doesn’t get what I am trying to document. When I approached him on the ship about him being the subject of the documentary, I explained that I would be around all the time documenting his life. I told him that he could think about whether this was okay and get back to me. I waited a day and caught up with him. He said it would be fine, but I don’t think he understood quite how much documenting I would be doing. I am clearly making him uncomfortable so I am going to back off and his story will play a smaller part in the documentary.

I was upset at first, but this is the right thing to do. I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable, and the other two people I’m working on don’t have any qualms about when and where I start taking pictures. One of the women totally gets exactly what I’m doing and is quite helpful--letting me know when everything is going on and such. Now I just need to find a couple more people who will have a good understanding of what I’m after so we can get on with the documenting. I have a couple of people in mind, so I’m not out in the cold just yet.

TDx