Reflections on Harbour

This work was created between 2020–2023 and consists of images of my partner Zoe. Depicted in this series are intimate moments drawn from our everyday life, with all its gifts and struggles. Interior scenes from the onset of the coronavirus pandemic are interlaced with images of celebrations, travel, and home-building. Zoe’s gaze, at times despondent and at others tenderly hopeful, offers reflections of my own state of mind. The camera, by freezing a moment in time, allows me to build a personal history. The result is a constellation of longing, hope, and desire through the memorialization of small details and gestures. In doing so over the course of several years, a poetic visual map is revealed with which to understand the twists and turns of life. Reflections on Harbour, is named so because of the work’s connection to Staten Island, where Zoe was raised and where we were able to find home. Historically, the functional purpose of a harbor is to provide a space of exchange. The word harbour in terms of this project (with UK English spelling to emphasize the word our within harbour), is intended to imply a metaphorical place of dialogue in a relationship: a place of refuge.

Artist Bios

Jean Marques

Jean Marques is a Cuban-American artist and photographer based in Staten island, NY. In 2019 they graduated with an MFA in Photography and Related Media from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). They have been making and exhibiting work since 2015. Their work has been exhibited in galleries in New York (Gallery Q and The William Harris gallery in Rochester, NY), Florida (Miami Zine Fair, Miami, FL), and Oregon (Black Box Gallery in Portland, OR). In 2018 they received the “John Pfahl Scholarship” for their work in Graduate School, as well as winning the “Best Filmmakers Award” in the Short Attention Span Film Festival at William Harris Gallery, RIT.

Organizations

The Alice Austen House

A vibrant cultural center, the Alice Austen House keeps the bold spirit of the early American photographer alive by presenting changing exhibitions of Austen’s pioneering historic photographs and of contemporary photography, providing education programs for students, offering a range of cultural programs for the public.
NYC Parks

NYC Parks is the steward of more than 30,000 acres of land — 14 percent of New York City — including more than 5,000 individual properties ranging from Coney Island Beach and Central Park to community gardens and Greenstreets. We operate more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds, 1,800 basketball courts, 550 tennis courts, 65 public pools, 51 recreational facilities, 15 nature centers, 14 golf courses, and 14 miles of beaches. We care for 1,200 monuments and 23 historic house museums. We look after 600,000 street trees, and two million more in parks. We are New York City’s principal providers of recreational and athletic facilities and programs. We are home to free concerts, world-class sports events, and cultural festivals.