Category: Haiku

Spurned

Tidal waves mark time
Ocean Consumes evidence
Gulls’ mocking laughter

Spurn point

As some of my haikus are a not so self-explanatory, I thought it might be helpful if I explain the rational behind one of the more obscure ones…

Documentary photography is about recording evidence. The frame in this image is intended for tourists to frame their own image, it’s akin to saying I was here. The place is Spurn Point, a spit, which one day will probably be consumed by the sea. So, the tide waits until it can consume the spit. Meanwhile, the gulls laugh mockingly at the futility of it all.

All of my shadow images employ the concept of phenomenology. The rationale being that the photographer can never be entirely objective. Their very presence and personal perspective will inevitably distort reality.

The stuff in the photograph will never be seen again in exactly the same way – the world has moved on. When an image is viewed, the viewer, who exists in an entirely separate reality will fabricate another perspective of their own.

Similarly, shadows in the landscape are in constant motion and never the same twice. The moment-in-time captured in camera is a human intervention. Photographing your own shadow is evidence that something once existed, tagging the landscape, saying I was part of this…