Interstellar: Sympathy For Ice

I’m Simon McCheung, a user interface designer for Rocksteady. I’m also a self taught photographer. I’ve been taking spontaneous, fine art images for a few years, and I thought I’d try my hand at creating a series of images while away from home in London. When I decided to go to Iceland, I knew it was a country filled with unfamiliar, alien-like landscapes. This prompted the Interstellar series. In which, a character explores a strange new world.

I purchased a glass fish bowl to represent my character as an aspiring astronaut. The plain undergarments aim to give the sense that the character might be seen within a dream.

I had the character all set, but felt I was missing something solid to turn the narrative into a series. After having conversations with the locals of Iceland, I discovered how climate change has affected their land.

They explained that the ice and glaciers were receding at an alarming rate. This has caused uncertainty in the eco-system and affected the livelihoods of those who depend on the land.

I began thinking about the effects of climate change on every location I visited thereafter. It was enveloping my Interstellar theme. My glass fish bowl developed from my original intentions, into a metaphor; A society living in a bubble. Eventually the bubble pops, or in this case, cracks to reveal the truth.

I wanted the viewers to discover this deeper meaning as they look through the series. Just as I had on my journey.

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Interstellar / Crash

Are we the aliens on an alien planet?

Interstellar / Discover

We feel our surroundings for something familiar to relate to, but what if there’s nothing familiar at all?

Do we then make the surroundings familiar to us?

I see a dog in the distance.

Interstellar / Spectator

She came and presented herself to us.

She’s beautiful but moving away from us.

The under currents are changing but I’m too distracted by her beauty to notice.

Interstellar / Shattered Memoirs

My neglect of the under currents have burst my bubble.

I don’t understand and I’m unfamiliar.

I’m back to the same place where I first crashed.

Interstellar / Intimate

Am I dreaming?

She’s taken me in her arms.

I begin to understand what’s causing the pain.

Interstellar / The Other Side

By her side.

I see things beyond the spectator.

Interstellar / Awaken

She let me go.

I’m left alone to with a burst bubble.

Interstellar / Contemplation

All I can think about was her.

I realize the bubble was holding me back.

Interstellar / Promise

I want to make a promise with her.

By living my life outside the bubble.

Interstellar / This is Home

I realized that she had always been close and familiar.

The land wasn’t alien, but we created a bubble to see things alien.

This was our home after all.

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