Book spotlighting miniature boats of Atlantic Canada sets sail

A miniature sloop and hull by William Francis Durant are pictured. (Source: Katherine Knight)

Run ashore, a wooden ship with its sails unfurled rests against the land at an angle as the fog from the ocean wisps past it.

Elsewhere, a passenger boat is stuck on a patch of ice, its colours standing out in the stretch of white snow. In a different place, a solitary sloop ventures into the calm sea, the water and sky expanding into the horizon.

These scenes unraveled in front of Katherine Knight’s camera. For years, she would lift these vessels and place them in ideal spots to create striking tableaus. The ships and boats weren’t the typical behemoths, but rather handmade miniatures by maritime artists.

“I realized I could photograph models and control your image a bit more,” Knight said. “I fell into it. It was an imaginative world that opened up for me.

“I try to take a photograph that looks real. Take a model, put it in some water, get as close as I can without endangering my camera.”

Knight, who has been photographing miniature barges, vessels and schooners since 2015, is highlighting the craft of models with her new book “BOAT,” which features a plethora of her pictures of the tiny ships.

“The idea of a book didn’t happen until last year when I realized my research project was coming to an end and I thought about how can I gather what I have into an accessible package?” Knight said. “You can pack a lot into a book. It was an immense joy.”

Model makers

One of the featured model makers in the book is Watson Knickle. Born and raised in Lunenburg, Knickle has created more than 100 miniature ships and boats.

“I love the water and I love the way boats are put together,” he said. “All the boats I make, there’s a history to them. I make them the same way they were designed.”

Knickle’s connection to maritime ships stretches back to a life-changing event when he was 16 years old. He was on a boat that shipwrecked off Isaac’s Habour in January. Hanging onto the boat’s remains for more than seven hours in -30 C weather, Knickle lost the fingers on his left hand.

“I spent six months in the hospital and had 12 operations,” he said. “I had to start doing something I’d never done before. I started to make model boats.”

Knight, who is based in Pictou, said the book serves as a document of model boat crafters like Knickle.

“Model boat making is fading as an enterprise,” she said. “People aren’t doing it as much anymore. It’s a fading art.

“It’s a craft that connects the Maritimes back to the 19^th century. It’s very poignant. It made me gain immense respect for the model makers.”

Guest essays

Along with the photographs, Knight’s book features guest essays from poet Sue Goyette, museum curator William Knight, writer Peggy Gale and cultural historian Sara Spike.

“Katherine and I have collaborated before,” Spike said. “We’ve known each other for quite a while. She reached out and said she was looking for people to contribute some writing. I was so inspired by her photos. This fit in with what I was thinking about already.”

Spike said she wrote an essay about coastal environments, which tie in with maritime culture and history.

“In Atlantic Canada, we have close relationships to weather and environment,” Spike said. “You really see that in Katherine’s photos. It’s so gorgeous. Such a vibrant representation of the culture of coastal communities.

“There’s a long history of model boat making in Atlantic Canada. It ties into folk art. It really speaks to this close relationship with the ocean. Katherine’s photos have made these objects relevant.”

One of Knight’s favourite pictures in the book is called Passenger Ship, which stretches six-feet long and hails from Newfoundland.

“Two fisher friends helped me photograph it,” Knight said. “It’s such a quirky boat.”

Knight is hopeful the book will provide readers with a glimpse into Maritime culture, one tiny boat at a time.

“It became much more human, in a way, more interactive with Maritime culture,” she said. “It went from being an art project to being a project about our social, cultural history. It talked about people who made immense contributions.”

“BOAT” is available through Goose Land Editions.