Going forward into my next shoot I am going to focus on the silence that I find in the larger landscapes. For this, I am going to head down to Watergate Bay, Cornwall, as it is a location that I often escape to go surfing and subsequently find myself at peace. My plan is to capture photographs of the beach and the surrounding area. I want to achieve a peaceful aesthetic to my photographs so that the viewer can begin to feel the same way that I do when I am in this location. I am going to shoot on my Sony A7 with a 50mm prime lens. I am choosing this set up as I want the shooting process to be simple and slow, so I am able to focus on what is beyond the lens and extend myself further into the landscape.
This is the collection of photographs that I captured from my trip. The beach was relatively busy when I was on it so in the editing process I removed most of the people from the images. I did this because when I was there, it didn’t matter that there were lots of people. I was able to immerse myself in the landscape and find the silence that I was searching for. The reason behind removing the people in the photographs was so that the viewer could find the same silence in the physical image as I did mentally when shooting the photographs. I think that this has worked well as when I compare the original images to the final edits, they are more simple, less chaotic and take the viewer straight into the position where I was mentally and physically.
Here is one of the first photographs that I took on the beach. As I was working down one end I turned around and noticed all of my footsteps in the tide line of the beach. It made me think about my physical impact on the beach, with it only being temporary as when the tide comes in, the evidence of me being on the beach will disappear. When I looked back on my footsteps it also made me think about the short journey that I had been on it get to where I was standing to take this image. Watergate Bay is a great location to see where the sea meets the land. The beach has these magnificent cliff faces all along which makes it a dramatic and powerful location. When you are standing on the beach you cannot see the outside world over the cliffs which take away distractions and refines the mind to connect with the landscape you are in.
You can see in the images above where I have edited out the people and small imperfections in the sand. I did this so that the viewer can only focus on the land that I have captured. I want my viewer to find and feel inner peace when they are looking at my images. To imagine that they are standing where I was and looking back at their own footprints. I think I have achieved this well, however, I feel like this image standing by itself could just be overlooked as a “nice” image of the beach and I think that it would get the viewer thinking more if it was in a book/ series/ collection.
This is one of my favourite images from this collection of images that I have shot. I was stood on top of a cliff on the South West Coastal path, looking out at sea to the horizon and all that was between me and the blue line was a small fishing boat. I instantly connected with the small dot in the middle of the ocean and felt what It would be like to be on board. I also think that this small boat is a good metaphor for life. It puts into perspective how small we really are and how insignificant our lives our to everything else that is out there. This speaks to me and makes me want to direct my life down the road that I want and not the one which society could push me down. I think if the viewer takes the time to look at this image and find the meaning for themselves then it will speak to them in whatever way is relevant to their life and philosophy.
Going forward into future shoots I want to make the viewer feel small in perspective to the land. This connotation makes me think about my life and the meaning that I want to get out of it by myself. With simple and peaceful images I am expressing the way that I think life should be about a journey of happiness and inner peace. Something that not everyone strives for and perhaps something that I feel like I need to escape to find.