WALKING THE WATERSHED :
FROM THE CATSKILLS TO NEW YORK CITY
On Earth Day 2019, I collected water at the Schoharie Reservoir upstate with friends from the New York City Native community. Tuscarora singer Jennifer Kreisberg led the process with a ‘water song’, activating the beginning of a 150-mile water-walk down to the city following the Catskill and Old Croton Aqueduct routes. I documented the walk and participants in still and video formats, recorded the walker’s stories and the sounds of the waters, and gave slide show presentations along the way.
This project was inspired by John Francis’ book Planet Walker, the Anishinaabe women ‘Nibi’ water walkers in Minnesota, and my experience at the 2016 Standing Rock Pipeline Protest in North Dakota. The walk was to create awareness about the distance between New York City and its main watersheds, and to highlight the tenuous relationship between rural and urban environments regarding resource extraction worldwide.
Funded by the Catskill Watershed Corporation and the New York City Department Environmental Protection. All images are copyright © RONNIE FARLEY
NEW YORK CITY WATER TOWERS
New York’s water towers are iconic landmarks that inspire a sense of awe and wonder. To some, like myself, their sight is a conduit to the human spirit. In a city teeming with life and activity, these silent sentries are the umbilical cord to our survival. They contain the panacea of all life—the very essence of our being. The sine qua non of all there is, and all there ever will be.
All images are copyright © RONNIE FARLEY
WATER IS LIFE
