New! Endless War

Blood In The Water

My journey through the ruins of World War II has taken me to many unexpected and unusual places both physical and metaphysical.  No journey has been more transformative though than that which found me emerging from behind the camera to appear as the subject(s) of my photographs. This through-the-lens progression started innocently enough with my adopting more and more actual military gear as the clothing and equipment I used while photographing out of practicality.  I had written about this a while back in an earlier post entitled, The Lost Year and the Commando Raid.  I then started to portray a solitary figure as a result of an aborted project a friend of mine had wanted to do involving an armed hooded figure.  I liked the idea and decided to try to do it myself.  I had not been accustomed to photographing the figure at the time so it was an interesting challenge to pursue. I did a small series based on this concept, but soon was confronted with the limits of  constantly depicting a single individual.  Some time passed where I was not inspired do any figurative work, but concentrated instead on a series based on projecting images in the rooms of the bunkers.  I still like to incorporate this device into my latest work at times.

Last Fall I decided to once again attempt to re-approach the beast I had known as Photoshop for a third time.  My two previous forays with the program were fraught with confusion and frustration, but I knew I had overcome this in order to take my work to a higher level as I am always striving to do,  This time I broke through the barriers that previously existed and came to grips with the demon. It enabled me to expand my vision in the direction I had first conceived when I started taking pictures which was to photographically create the kinds of scenes that I had done using found images and painted backgrounds.  This caused me to change the way that I worked immensely.  I can now populate my scenes with multiple characters.  I no longer rely on happenstance in a stream of consciousness kind of way, but rather I approach creating each scene more like shooting a movie. There is an entirely new set of demands both visually and physically that must be accommodated. For one thing, whereas before the idea was to infiltrate and flow with the nature of the location, now each scene has to be "scripted" and performed, as it were, and then extensively edited to make it visually compelling.  I still rely greatly on the spectacular natural light found in the forts, but I have also started to augment it with the use of a flash at times.  I have also now discovered the virtues of cloudy weather for its wonderfully even light and ominous feel.  In the past I would seek out the sunniest days to infuse the structures with the most vibrant, lurid color.  All of this I feel has reinvigorated my work and opened unlimited possibilities. 

The culmination of this transformation is now available for viewing in a new portfolio entitled, Endless War.  You can view and purchase these new images at my website: www.donfeeney.com and on my Facebook page,  All of the images on my website are available and are custom printed in various sizes from 4" x 6" up to /16" x 24".  You can also view and follow the photos on Instagram. Please contact me at donfeeney@donfeeney.com if you have any questions or requests.

Update: You can now purchase beautiful 13" x 19" prints of  my new portfolio, Endless War, at my new shop at www.facebook.com/donfeeneyphotography/

The Summer Campaign

Somewhere in the woods...

Welcome back. During these short, bleak days of December there's no better time to cast one's memory back to the events of warmer, sunnier times...like the invasion of Europe.

This past summer I was able to get to my favorite location and the seminal epicenter of this entire project, Peddocks Island and the (dwindling) remains of Fort Andrews on four fun'n'sun-filled occasions.   As recently as 2009 this place was a (somewhat) intact Army installation last used during World War II. Ironically its last use by the Army was as an Italian POW camp, though it is most widely known as the place where the 2010 Martin Scorsese movie, Shutter Island, was vaguely  purported to have taken place.  When I first discovered the fort by chance during the summer of 2001 I could not believe what an incredible find it was - an entire World War II era,  MGM back lot-style location was essentially at my disposal.  Now,  the "authorities" have stepped in and ruined things as always.  Most of the magnificently crumbling quarters and support buildings have been razed while the remaining ones have been sealed up.  Near the 6" and 3" gun batteries, in an area I used to call "The Bocage" after the Normandy battle zone because of its thick overarching vegetation,  there are now fucking things called "yurts".  World War Wonderland has vanished for all practical purposes.  America successfully buries its past once again.  Start busing in the slack-jawed tourists who have "never seen a seagull before", the bad music thumping through the wilderness from the flotilla of cruise boats and, of course the spray paint.

However there are still intriguing places to be found by those willing to pay the price where the modern age has not wiped out the last flickers of history and imagination.  Deep in the woods are located the remains of two fire control structures, one accepted into service on D-Day, 1944 and the other from World War I which is made from that wonder product of the age, cemestos .  There are also the ruins of a dormitory and one of the first radio stations in the Army - more on this in a later post.  Their existence is owed to the fact that they are virtually uncharted and are so overgrown that one can literally be 20 feet away and not see them.  Did I mention that one must go through a sea of poison ivy and deep waves of incredibly tough vines whose only purpose in nature is seemingly to produce huge thorns?  Now that I've told everyone exactly where it is I can finally reveal that this is where I love to spend my summer vacation.  The concrete WWII bunker-like structure which I had located last year after numerous attempts was my base of operations.  (It also makes for a great place to watch birds from, but better bring a bucket of DEET, those mosquitoes are hungry!) As a testament to just how isolated it is it, there is no graffiti and there is still glass in some of the windows - unheard of features in today's Coast Artillery environment!   From my historic hideaway I would go "on patrol" in search of the the highly elusive radio station and beyond. 

The overall search for these locations occurred over the course of multiple visits to Peddocks and took place over the span of at least four years.  Only after repeated attempts and extensive research of maps, photos and satellite images in addition to learning to use a compass and later a GPS device  - not to mention a machete - I finally took the top of the hill for good this year.   These are the kind of good, hardcore missions, the ones where you're sweaty, sore, banged up, maybe even bleeding a little as well as being visually exhausted by the end of it,  that keep this project going.  

After all, the best pictures are always in the worst places.

P.S. - If you're planning on visiting the bunker next summer please let us know in advance so we can set the Claymores.