I was fascinated as well by some of the things sitting there in the shingle... Whether old engines on blocks, big barrels with mysterious numbers on them, or other constructions--all seemed to be somehow animated, as if possessed by spirits. I imagined them as totems, spirits of the dead, the revered witnesses of a past age. The modern day tripper still feels their presence, but cannot understand them. The local version of those Easter Island heads, really. As a kid, I would have happily spent a whole summer there, preferably early in the morning or in the evenings when I would be alone with them; I would have brought them back to life...
Wonderful images, what I love about Dungeness is that it has a sense of being the frontier, especially on an overcast day. What with the openesss and vastness of the sea competing with the slab like structure of an industrial monolith, and this ramshackle community sandwiched inbetween.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been there for a couple of years, and should really revisit it soon, maybe when the weather is less... erm frigid.
I love the way that you have segregated these constructs, and then placed them away from whatever mundane context that they may posess thus elevating to the iconic.
With the weathering and erosion that these objects have been subjected to, one could almost concieve them as being offerings to appease the elements of air and water.
I also love the muted colours that you have going on, it enhances the textures wonderfully.
Keep posting, and as Phil says keep writing, the description of you parting ways with your flat was evocative.
Thanks Simon. That was what I was going for with the Dungeness pictures. That animated quality as if imbued with a spiritual meaning makes me regard them as totems and that is how I wanted to treat them photographically. I'm trying out different papers to print them on for an exhbition in Whitstable in March (with Phil and 2 more Phils).
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