Small Town Inertia

Three winters ago Anne Erhard’s father unexpectedly passed away on a journey far away from home. A journey which, like all journeys, he was meant to return from. His untimely death was distressing to his young daughter but at the same time it reminded her how fragile human life is — we never know when or how we will meet our demise. The only certainty is that eventually, we will. > Death is a question of containment. For a long time, attempts at understanding felt like trying to empty the ocean

The project exposes the living conditions that Puerto Ricans have to endure such as natural catastrophes, limited government support and unstable electric service. Although the series began in 2013, it wasn’t until 2017 when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico that Saldaña realised the series is something more than just a personal project — it is a testament of the residence of the local population.

The project attempts to record the slow death of a culture — Pigeon racing as a typically British sport — that has changed beyond recognition since its inception. The photographs are extraordinarily rich and full of detail — the birds bind them together, they are the common denominator, but there is so much more in the images than just the pigeons. I