Newfoundland’s rugged and exposed south coast contains numerous fjords, bays, and harbors supporting small and widely separated villages. These “outports,” only accessible by fishing boats and coastal steamers, date back to the 1500s and earlier.

Historically rich in fishing grounds, over-harvesting during the latter half of the 20th century collapsed the industry in 1992. One effect was the emigration of inhabitants from smaller communities to larger towns and the abandonment of the most isolated stretches of the coast.

Across the Bay Le Moine in southwestern Newfoundland is the village of Petites ­– barely visible in this photograph in a sheltered cove along the horizon’s stony reach of coastline. Now deserted of its year-round population, the remnants of a few decaying houses and a steepled church evoke its history.

This timeless landscape is one of mossy granite shelves bordering the tides. Lichens shade the faces of these blackened cliffs. As bedrock contracts and swells through seasons of cold and heat, it slowly wears away, fractured, smoothed, and rounded by unremitting wind, waves, rain, and ice.

- James Baker