David Welch: Ghosts in the Glass

Ghosts in the Glass explores Mare Island through the windows of its remaining structures. These surfaces—weathered, reflective, and often partially obscured—hold layered views of what remains and what has passed.

Rather than documenting the shipyard directly, the work looks through these windows, where reflections, textures, and interior fragments merge. The images are less about a single moment and more about a sense of presence—how a place continues to exist through what it leaves behind.

David has returned to Mare Island repeatedly over several years. What began as a visual curiosity has become an ongoing engagement with the site. Each visit reveals something slightly different, shaped by light, time, and the continued aging of the buildings.

This work is not intended as a historical record, but as a response to place—an attempt to engage with memory, change, and what endures.