HERMIT CRABS
of
PARADISE COVE, VANUATU
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
I was living on Paradise Cove, Vanuatu, from November, 2019, through March, 2020. I’d been summoned to sit Coco the dog and two unnamed chickens and ended up managing three rental beach properties on the island of Efate in the village of Pango. I catered to 23 travellers, mostly from Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.
Each time I travel, I try to document something copious and seemingly-mundane to help anchor the place to my stroke-addled brain. In Oliva, Spain, it was cement buildings within the Orange Groves; in Cabarate, in the Dominican Republic, it was motorcycle culture; in Los Angeles, it’s always the architecture (coming soon). In Paradise Cove, it was hermit crabs. I was fascinated with their diversity. The crabs were difficult to photograph because they’re tiny and quick and my camera lacked a macro lens. I probably took 200 x the number of photos below, all out of focus.