“He always thought of the sea as ‘la mar’ which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her. Sometimes those who love her say bad things of her but they are always said as though she were a woman. Some of the younger fishermen, those who used buoys as floats for their lines and had motorboats, bought when the shark livers had brought much money, spoke of her as ‘el mar’ which is masculine.They spoke of her as a contestant or a place or even an enemy. But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favours, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them. The moon affects her as it does a woman, he thought.”
– Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man in the Sea

I’ve always loved Hemingway’s book, The Old Man in the Sea.  When I see an opportunity to try to portray the book through art of some kind, I’ll take a stab at it.  This photograph, taken in Bellingham, Washington, I thought appropriate.  I appreciate that the Old Man likened the sea to the feminine.  She is affected by moons, yes, but perhaps it is because she is all-encompassing and consuming as well….as many of us woman are.