Swollen Shorelines

Abstract

Swollen Shorelines examines the intersection of womanhood, language, and photographic practice through a collaborative project created in the island nation of Kiribati with linguist Tereua Miracle Oliphant Kaintoka. Drawing on lived experience, the work reflects on the twelve years between an initial eighteen-month stay in Kiribati and a return in 2025, tracing the shifting terrains of personal identity, cross-cultural responsibility, and the complexities of ethical image-making. The project engages the Kiribati concepts of land, rituals, and language as guiding structures, while foregrounding the nuance of consent, collaboration, and representation within photographic practice. Through images, personal narrative, and reflections on translation, Swollen Shorelines explores the emotional geography of return and considers how the expansion and contraction of self mirrors the land’s own shifting edges.