I came across a tourist photo of a large warship undergoing refit in Portsmouth. As a former Sea Cadet who grew up near a harbour, I have always found ships compelling. In this case, I was struck by the sight of HMS Queen Elizabeth back in port only a year after her commissioning. That image led me down a path of other photographs—mostly of training vessels.
This digital work emerges from a collage of those images and animations of warships. At its core, it asks why nations continue to construct massive warships in an era when a $500 drone can disable or even sink one. My conclusion is that these ships, like the dreadnoughts of the early twentieth century, serve less as practical instruments of war and more as symbols of power—built to impress.