Laura Waddington

/Diary

Start of a correspondence with Peter Hutton about filmmaking and the sea, prompted by his seeing Cargo at the Rotterdam Film Festival and getting in touch. A meandering conversation unfolded despite our never meeting. Among his words about his maritime travels:

“I  spent a  rainy November  on  the  west  coast  of Ireland  watching  the weather and light  out  over  the  Atlantic.  Ive never  seen  the  sea  look  so  foreboding and  so  beautiful. All  my life  Ive had  dreams  of  falling  off  cliffs over the  ocean..in  cars, on foot …when  I  saw the first  cliffs  on  the  Aran Island  I couldnt  move  I  was  so  terrified by  the  drama  of  the  sea . When I  was  working  on  ships  I  would always  dream that  the ship  was sinking and Id have  to  swim underwater  to  rescue my  camera  and film from  the  drawer under  my  bed. Such  is  the  life  of  a mariner.” (March 29, 2001)

After his death, I discovered that we happened to share a birthday, which was also the birthday of Jorge Luis Borges, whose words at the end of The Maker reminded me of the person, and the filmmaker, whom I glimpsed in Peter Hutton‘s letters and films:

“A man sets out to draw the world. As the years go by, he peoples a space with images of provinces, kingdoms, mountains, bays, ships, islands, fishes, rooms, instruments, stars, horses, and individuals. A short time before he dies, he discovers that the patient labyrinth of lines traces the lineaments of his own face.”