From Menie to Montego Bay: Documenting, Representing and Mobilizing Emotion in Coastal Heritage Landscapes

A vast expanse of sea stretches out as far as the eye can see. Seagulls gust in and out of view while the striking scene is framed by the hazy borders of waving ambery-green grass. The scene ahead conjures up images of beguiling tourism commercials and seems almost too dramatic to be real. A slight turn to the right reveals that this landscape is not quite so serene and remote as it might at first appear: a gaggle of people jostle around a central figure; some hold microphones aloft, while others jot down commentaries. A series of suited, sunglassed and ear-pieced figures stand guard in elevated positions above the scene, gazing into an unidentifiable distance. The crowd’s central character suddenly walks a few paces, stretching his arm ahead of him in an all-encompassing arc – his hair flowing in a manner paralleling that of the dune grass behind him. The crowd attempts to re-group, re-establishing prime positions. Even further away, but not so far to be completely out of view, a sombre figure watches the activities: a local resident smoking defiantly, silently documenting the re-visioned landscape that has become the narrative centrepiece of the story currently being announced to the captive press invitees – a story which declares proposed coastal golf developments as a critical survival strategy for rural communities.