Centennial Sea and Sardinia

In 1921 D.H. Lawrence took a trip with his wife

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The left from Taromina on a ferry to land in Cagliari

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I didn't follow in his footsteps, but felt a kindship in the type of land that makes you cling to eggs and coffee

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In 1921 D.H. Lawrence took a trip with his wife ❋ The left from Taromina on a ferry to land in Cagliari ❋ I didn't follow in his footsteps, but felt a kindship in the type of land that makes you cling to eggs and coffee ❋

Matted Prints for 8”×10” frames

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In reaction to the book, here's my zine:

Centennial Sea and Sardinia by C.A. Goodwin

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PRINTS from the portfolio are available for purchase DECEMBER 2021 at  Anfora Wine Merchants  128 S Marion St, Oak Park, IL 60302

A photographic project marking the 100th anniversary of D. H. Lawrence’s February 1921 trip to Sardinia.
The publication of the book Sea and Sardinia made public his travel writings, an introspective journal style account of his experience of the island of Sardegna and it’s people. A travelogue, which in his words, he excuses as not to be interpreted as a Michelin or Baedeker guidebook.
Lawrence writes, “The people are kind, and short, and determined, and regard me with equal parts interest and suspicion.” Despite his occasional exaggerated or maybe dehumanizing characterization of the people he encountered… It was the unfettered rumination on the difficulty of travel, descriptive terrain, and the wonder of discovering an alternately strange and fulfilling place that resonated in my own visits.

A weaving journey north and then west, amongst astonishing, but not sensational land and ancient architectural ruins, the path that Lawrence and his wife (whom he referred to as Queen Bee) traversed, seldom crosses with mine. While maps and routes, names and landmarks remain, I laughed at the confluence of their difficulty navigating, complaints, and comforts confessed in Sea and Sardinia as if I had a conspiratorial friend – still fitting a century later… In addition to Sea and Sardinia, my collection of and about the island now includes other novels, too many fumetti, fables, as well as the recently published Mack collection of two trips and a map In Sardegna Guido Guidi published by MACK. In this book, Guidi’s photographs are separated by two trips 20 years apart, the cover is a drawing of his route, wobbly, indicating old roads, mountainous terrain, and the desire to circumnavigate, wrap it up. I think we all can expect, it’s not possible.

This selection of photographs from my personal archive, kept as records of sights and experiences on trips to Sardegna. I was collecting nothing more than fleeting impressions that felt right for the place, practicing the reserve I imagined the locals had for such sights. It’s a hard place to characterize, and the feeling of being on the island eludes explanation still. The landscape is monumental and yet staid, landmarks with dates of 2000BC are common, could in some cases be mistaken for a haphazard hole or a pile of rocks as they’re sometimes neglected, but even protected maintained and ticketed sites avoid making a spectacle of themselves. Being there changed my perception of time, stretched it, informed how I navigate new experiences, with attention to banal details, and emphasized the weather. When I think of this archive, I long for its missing pieces, the people, the scents, the scale and the feeling of a wet cold, or the asparagus taste… I hope the photos I’ve included are symbolic and precious enough for that exchange.