Archive of the Lost

I have been working recently on an article discussing photographing ruins as an archive of the place. Photographic archives have come into popularity the past few years, used to document the life of an event. I feel that ruins themselves can be archives, they can remain as they were at their last use, a moment frozen in time, they can show evidence of the years that have passed through items left behind by people who have traveled to the site. While in Fiji I had the opportunity to photograph what I consider an archival ruin.

Korolevu was the first resort on the Coral Coast and business boomed while it was open, business was so good that an airport was opened across from the resort to fly the guest from Nadi straight to the resort. Sadly, in 1983 a hurricane hit the resort knocking out all power that wasn't restored for months, around the same time there was a lease despute that saw the hotel stripped down to nothing. The resort was family owned and opertated so the money was not available to get the resort back on its feet. So there it has sat since 1983.

The photographs I have taken show the resort 27 years on, the buildings still standing, the paths barely visible in the underbrush and natural vegitation taking back over. Soon the land will be sold and redeveloped and there will be no evidence of what original stood on the site, that is where the photographic archive comes in. My images are just part of that archive, photographs were taken of construction, of the building while it thrived, the initial destruction and now the regrowth, all of this makes up the life of the building. I hope you enjoy my contribution.