Myah Asha Jeffers is the 20324 recipient of the Joan Wakelin bursary which provide support for a photographer focusing on documentary and travel, for her project Exclusion Zone.
About the recipient
It is a graveyard for relics of the past.
Project Proposal
In 1997, a seismic volcanic eruption destroyed the Caribbean island of Montserrat.
With now only 20% of the island deemed habitable and a current population of just over 5000 people – Montserrat is one of the least populus countries in the world.
The uninhabitable 80% of the island is known as the “Exclusion Zone” - a site of buried infrastructure. It is a graveyard for relics of the past.
Through this series, I’m interested in creating a living archive of sorts, photographing the void of the past through a present-day lens.
The work will focus on both the younger generation who only know Montserrat post-eruption, and the elders who still hold onto a deep nostalgia of what Montserrat was.
This story will offer a rare insight into one of the few remaining British colonies, interrogating the intersection between the legacy of natural disasters and the legacy of colonialism.