Briar Tawse-Smith

The Keepers of Watership Down

A series of 5 prints and a photography book that document the aftermath of the death of my grandfather, and how our family farm is at risk of being lost to us forever.

“Near the small town of Stayner, Ontario lies Watership Down, a farmhouse that stands tall at the top of a hill. Their walls hold the stories of many generations, the latest being my grandfather, Dr. William G. Ives. My great-grandfather, Dr. Raymond E. Ives was a country doctor of much renown; using horses, skis, snowshoes, and eventually, cars to serve the people of the greater Township of Clearview community, including Stayner. When my grandfather joined his practice, and eventually took his place, he too became a much-loved pillar of the community. It wasn’t until he died this year, passing away peacefully in his beloved farmhouse, that I began to truly understand the importance of his presence in the community, and in my life as well. With the eventual ownership of Watership Down hanging in limbo, I knew I had to document this piece of family history before I lost it forever. Deathly allergic to peanuts his whole life, my grandfather wished for his ashes to be kept in a peanut butter jar. The jar reads “We Shall Overcome”, a final hurrah to never succumbing to death by peanut-induced anaphylaxis.In the last year of his life, my mother Jillian uprooted her life in Toronto to be his devoted carer. Burdened with the responsibility of being the executor of his will, she has become a custodian and keeper of our family farm. As the farm sits quiet, she continues to live alone in the house that is entrenched in the absence of her father. By documenting how grief manifests in the physical, I aim to bring attention to those left behind by the death of a loved one, in an in-depth interrogation of the family unit that lives on. ”