THE CROSSING
From May of 2015 to May of 2019, Marissa Roth was a passenger aboard the Queen Mary ll during seven transatlantic crossings between New York City and Southampton, England. These short but profound journeys inspired this photographic project, which has in many ways, became the coda to her four-decade global traveling exhibition, One Person Crying: Women and War. The Crossing was published in November, 2019, and will be a traveling exhibition.
Choosing to photograph the crossings with color transparency film solely from the perspective of the ocean, Roth’s voyages from continent to continent and across time, mark another transition in creativity for her. Imbued with the temporal ocean rhythms, her unwavering photographer’s eye captured the ever-changing palette of color and light as the ocean liner traversed the Atlantic Ocean. Fog, quiet dawns and vibrant twilights, all gently revealed within this natural setting, are companioned with images made directly above churning prop-wash and variable ocean currents.