Beside the sea
Igrew up in Brighton, and when I began taking photographs on the beach I had a notion that this was in some way just ‘practice’ for the more serious photography projects I would get round to starting one day. A little while later it came as something of a revelation to realise that this had become the project, and that a small body of work was beginning to emerge. Significantly, I was more inspired by this most local of landscapes than I had been by any of the other places I had attempted to shoot.
The huge bonus of embarking on a local project like this is continual access to the subject matter. Before even picking up a camera I had years of experience of living here to draw on. Locations were familiar, access was simple and there was more than enough variety to keep me happy for years. Sounds great, but my familiarity with it can occasionally make it feel like I’m stuck in a bit of a rut. The real challenge is keeping myself inspired by trying to capture the familiar in an unfamiliar way, to use the ever-changing weather and light to my advantage, and give the viewer a sense of the place that can only be gained by spending an awful lot of time here.
Time and tide
Along the way I’ve discovered all sorts of things about my home town that I had previously taken for granted. I’ve had to learn more about the tidal range across the year and the way in which winter storms affect the amount of sand that’s revealed at low tides ( yes we have sand in Brighton, we just keep it hidden under the sea most of the time). I’ve learned more about the migration patterns of starlings and when and where they like to murmurate each evening in winter. I have a much better sense of where the sun will be rising and setting in the sky throughout the year, and how this plays into the light we get on the beach, and I have a much better idea of how the local weather will affect the kind of shots I can get. I also learned exactly where the biggest waves will land on you if you stand in the wrong place on the Palace Pier in a storm! You don’t forget that in a hurry. I’ve also met all sorts of interesting characters. My fellow locals are a goldmine of useful information, ideas and opinions. All of which is feeding back into creating work that I hope is more than just pictures.
Reaching a wider audience
In 2014 I used some local exhibitions of these images as a springboard to open my own gallery, which is rather conveniently located right on the beach where they were taken. This has proved a fantastic way to show this project to a bigger audience, which is made up of both locals and tourists alike, and listen to what they have to make of it all. The variety of conversations that can begin with one of the pictures is astonishing and keeps adding to my list of ideas for images I’d like to add to the project. Having started this project by accident, I’m starting to realise that I may not ever finish it either. In fact it may only be ended if I cease to be a local, and I hope that’s not something that will happen any time soon.