One Photograph
There are some photographs that I like because of the moment in which they were made, and others that I grow increasingly fond of simply because of the way they make me feel.
This one is both.
What I love about this photograph is its sense of calm. Nothing is fighting for attention. There isn’t a dramatic sky or an extraordinary burst of colour.
Instead it is a photograph that seems to reveal itself slowly.
And perhaps that’s why I’m proud of it.
My eye enters the photograph across that beautiful expanse of soft water in the foreground before being picked up by the curve of the pale sand. From there, I’m carried gently through the frame, following the shoreline towards the distant headland.
And then I arrive at the light.
The small area of sunlit green land is probably my favourite part of the entire photograph. It isn’t particularly large and it certainly doesn’t dominate the scene, but for me it gives the photograph its purpose.
Everything seems to lead towards it.
I love photographs that allow the eye to travel. Rather than simply presenting the viewer with a subject, they create a journey through the frame. Here, the curves of the landscape, the shoreline and the changing tones all seem to work together, quietly guiding the eye from one part of the photograph to another.
There’s also something about the balance of cool blues and that small area of warm, illuminated green that I find peaceful. The light doesn’t overwhelm the landscape.
It touches it.
And perhaps that’s what I respond to most.
As I’ve grown older as a photographer, I’ve become less interested in photographs that shout and increasingly drawn towards those that whisper.
This photograph whispers.
It asks me to slow down, follow the lines and spend a little time wandering through the landscape.
And that, more than anything else, is what I want my photographs to do.
Available as a Fine Art Print
If this photograph speaks to you too, it is available as a fine art print from my online store.
