The first publication of the Athenaeum Press at Coastal Carolina University, Chasing the Paper Canoe is a contemporary photographic reinterpretation of Nathaniel Bishop’s book, The Voyage of the Paper Canoe.
Nathaniel Bishop traveled between Quebec, Canada to Gulf of Mexico via waterways in a paper canoe between 1874 and 1875. This reinterpretation covers ‘Chapter 11’ of Bishop’s journal, at the Waccamaw River in North Carolina to the Winyah Bay area and Charleston, South Carolina. While the river and people that Bishop encountered are no longer the same, it is necessary to be conscious of what once existed in order to understand what is there today. In doing so, there is an ability to establish a similar connection that Bishop had created along these river communities during his voyage. This is our reimagining of Bishop’s journey through the contemporary landscape.