The Commander's Intent for this project says the goal is to reveal the human continuity between past and present. Where my eye goes is the seam between the two — the place where the eighteenth century and the twenty-first are pressed together hard enough that you can see the join.

Most photographers at these events are shooting the reenactment. I've gotten more interested in the collision.

During the recent Gloucester reenactment, the sight of longboats pulling hard toward shore brought the tactics of 1775 vividly to life. Oars cutting through the water, spray flying, and the determined faces of the crews—it was a powerful reminder of how these small craft shaped coastal operations throughout the American Revolution.

In the cold dawn light on Lexington Battle Green, Jonas Parker — farmer, father, and one of the first Americans to fall — stands his ground. He had promised he would never run. He kept that promise.