Guy Saldanha is gathering remnants of a quickly-disappearing America through photography. His exhibit, "Gathering Remnants," on display at Frontier Café until February 21, provides a glimpse into the backbreaking world of America's industry in an era where bodily labor is quickly becoming replaced by machinery. His photographs tell the stories of "hard rock miners who unearth the metals for electronics; weavers who thread the looms for mass-market fabrics; and butchers who slaughter the livestock for fast food and supermarket chains," according to the preface he wrote for the exhibit.
Saldanha, a graduate of the University of Southern Maine, was not involved in photography in college. He was a history major and loved drawing from a young age. He took art classes in college, but it was only after his studies that photography began to play a dominant role in his life. He claims that he was a "slow and deliberate" artist with a pencil or a paintbrush, but with a camera he "saw the potential for capturing images spontaneously." Additionally, with his interest in social history, he was enthralled with the idea that he would have the ability to explore, travel and meet people while simultaneously documenting them artistically.
Saldanha's inspiration for the exhibit stemmed from the fact that he had never traveled in the United States before and it was a way to see America's historic labor sites as an older way of life that was quickly disappearing. He also stated such inspiration also grew out of his interest in meeting people. Throughout the 18 years that he took photographs for the project, Saldanha stayed on oil rigs with roughnecks, followed timber cutters for several days at a time, saw the last steam-powered mill in the Pacific Northwest, visited the deepest gold mine shaft in the world, went underground to see New York City's water tunnels, and squeezed into some of the narrowest coal mines in the country.
"Just about everyone I met everywhere was very gracious and generous about sharing their time and experience with someone who knew nothing at all," Saldanha said. "One thing I learned that will never leave me is that although some consider these the most 'simple' jobs, the knowledge and skill that these individuals need for their work is extensive. It's easy to lose sight of that when we buy things at a department store. We forget that people's hands touched whatever we're buying. I now have a strong respect for how things are made."
Saldanha's photos, all black and white in the exhibit, are original in their reality and industriousness. They were snapped in textile mills, tanneries, steel foundries, paper mills, coal mines, forests, and shoe factories, among others. According to Saldanha, he sought to communicate "individuality and character" and chose sites where "industry played a dominant role."
Since visiting these places, many of them have closed because of the relaxation in outsourcing laws, changes in trade patterns, and the recent economic downturn. Regardless of these challenges, people continue to enjoy their work, according to Saldahna.
"People take a great deal of pride in what they do. [I was lucky enough to see] different aspects of that work experience that we might not see otherwise," he said.
Saldanha commemorates these hard-working individuals who form the backbone of society.
"Despite relentless investments in labor-saving technology, for example, no extent of mechanical engineering has replicated the measured force in a quarryman's swing, the discriminating touch in a leather-finisher's final cut, or the artful control in a lath operator's grip," he said.