Fine Artist Book — Going Away From Here

Going Away from Here

Limited-Edition Fine Artist Book
— Click on the image below to view the entire project —

“Going Away from Here” is a collection of images that sheds light upon the concern of ongoing land loss. These images are of Tangier Island located off the coast of Virginia in the Chesapeake Bay, which is progressively being claimed by the waters surrounding it an average of nine acres every year. Predicted to be one of America’s first “climate change refugees,” the residents will be forced to evacuate, and we will lose an entire culture of people as unique as their dialect. This deeply religious island has already been split by the Bay’s water, which now seeps up through the ground below. Tangier is not alone and sadly tells the tale many low-lying cities around the world are facing in the next 80 years. This book asks the viewer to think about the difficult decisions that stand before us—how will we decide who and what is worth saving, and who are we willing to let wash away into the water?

This limited-edition Dos-à-Dos book contains 30 images printed on Canson Edition Etching Rag, plus 2 additional free-standing prints on Somerset Velvet encased in a custom die-cut envelope with foil-stamp. The Dos-à-Dos structure includes two chapters – Chapter 1 containing 15-black & white prints, and Chapter 2 containing 15-color prints. All images are archival pigment prints, tipped into the book, and overlayed with Thai Unryu paper. All photographs are captured and printed by H. Jennings Sheffield from 2017–2022. The hand-made paper is commissioned from Twinrocker Handmade Paper in Brookston, Indiana. The book is letterpress printed on a Vandercook Universal III press. The typography, presswork, and edition are bound by Black Hare Studio. The Forward, Residual Testimony, is written by writer and curator Liz Wells.

The Clamshell

Open clamshell with book and prints inside custom die-cut envelop

Front Cover, Chapter 1

15-Black & White prints tipped-in with quotes from the islanders

Front Cover, Chapter 2

15-Color prints tipped-in with quotes from the islanders

Clamshell and Dos-à-Dos structure

All photographs are captured and printed by H. Jennings Sheffield from 2017–2022. The hand-made paper was commissioned from Twinrocker Handmade Paper in Brookston, Indiana. The laser cutting for the clamshell was done by FreeFall Laser in North Adams, Massachusetts, and the typography, presswork, and edition were commissioned and bound by Black Hare Studio.