Hello, I’m Gill and I write a photography blog inspired by the landscapes of Suffolk and beyond. Please subscribe to read more of my writing and visit my website to view my images.
Back in 2018 I produced a panel of 9 images that I called patterns in steel. They were taken at my local beach and showed the rust patterns on some corroding sheet piling that stood at the edge of the shingle. The piling had been erected years ago to protect the historic site of Bawdsey manor from the ever present threat of coastal erosion. It is now crumbling and corroding and has decayed so much in places that large holes gape at the sea, swallowing the incoming tide and spitting it out again as the waters recede.
The beach here is narrow and not what you would describe as traditionally beautiful. It is littered with groynes and broken sea defences, reinforced concrete and hundreds of wooden posts. For a landscape photographer it is a challenging location to photograph and the best way I can describe it is chaotic.
Despite this there are compositions to be had here and it is one of my favourite places to practice photographing moving water.
Last weekend I found myself back on the beach with the aim of photographing some of the old sea defences. It was the day after storm Kathleen had blown through and when I arrived two hours after high water the storm surge was still flooding the beach preventing me from reaching the area I wanted to visit. As a result I had to temporarily abandon my original ideas for photography while I waited for the waters to recede.
Looking around for something different to photograph I was again drawn to the steel piling. There is something about this structure that really captures my imagination. At first glance there is nothing attractive about it and I would go so far as to say it is everything I hate about a wild beach - it is man made, it has no obvious beauty and it is imposing and intrusive. For me it takes away the natural charm of the area. However I understand the reasons for its existence as the fragility of this coastline is obvious for all to see.
As I walked along the narrow strip of exposed beach I was drawn to the water pouring from the holes in the steel. In places fountains of seawater spurted across the shingle from heights of a meter or so and in others the flow was less noticeable and the water trickled slowly down the surface of the steel creating lovely patterns as it fell. As I watched I felt there was actually something quite beautiful about this process and I was inspired to try and capture the contrasts between the stark piling and the beauty that nature was adding.
For me there is something interesting about contrasts. Man made elements versus nature, beauty compared to ugliness. Contrasts are compelling and I often find these transition zones are where the magic happens.
I have always been fascinated with the idea that we can make something beautiful by giving it our attention, by noticing the details and asking ourselves the question ‘Could there be more too this, more than first meets the eye?’
Seeing the potential in everything, no matter how mundane or initially dull is a great skill to master, because it opens up a wealth of photographic possibilities.
Looking at the undulating steel sheeting I found the play of light and shadow really compelling and loved the effect I could create with a 70-200mm lens and a shallow depth of field.
As I walked further along the beach I came across some steel reinforcing rods that had been separated from the concrete that once surrounded them. They were washed up in a mound, squashed between the shingle and the sheet piling. On their own they were ugly, mans litter on a wild beach. But seen at the right angle, with the colours of the steel piling as a backdrop, the shapes took on a beauty of their own and I found the contrasts and patterns quite interesting.
By using light, selective focus and targeted framing I hope I have found a way to bring this ugly, manmade structure to life.
I plan to return to this beach when the conditions are right and make some more images that better link all the steel elements with the flowing water. At the moment I feel they are two separate entities, but I do feel that there is something here worth exploring and turning into a body of work. I have an idea for a hand printed zine which will be my focus for Part 2 of this blog.
There are mundane and even ‘ugly’ objects and landscapes everywhere. We come across them daily but often they go un noticed and un photographed. If we pay them some attention and spend some time observing them I think they end up being more interesting than we imagine. Maybe familiarity can make us appreciate ugliness? Maybe the more attention we give something the more interest we find? Perhaps we need the unattractive to ensure we continue to appreciate the beauty that is around us?
I would be really interested to hear your thoughts so please leave your comments below.
Thank you very much for reading and until next week enjoy your photography.
Gill
You definitely did find beauty Gill, the images are excellent. The colours are beautiful. I think we can find something
appealing in alot of things that we wouldn't normally photograph.
I learn so much in your posts! I love the rusted images of Bawdsey and how your find beauty in unexpected places.