8 miles of sand
Sometimes when I have nothing special to do I head to the East Coast to get a blast of North Sea air and wander with my camera somewhere along the 8 miles of sand, a very specific geographical area along the British coastline. It stretches from Huntcliff in the Victorian seaside town of Saltburn-by-the-Sea through to the industrial environment around the South Gare breakwater by Teesmouth.
I am working on a series of environmental portraits of local people who live and work in this coastal area. From the fishermen of Paddy’s Hole and the 101 iconic green fishermen’s huts nestled in amongst the sand dunes at South Gare I wander along the beach to Redcar and Marske until I reach Saltburn where I meet the surfers, swimmers and fishermen collecting winkles. The work is unplanned and dependent on who I meet along the way.
The essence of environmental portraiture is to capture the subject in the context of their surroundings, sometimes I approach this by spending time with people observing their activity and then make a portrait at an appropriate moment. Other times the portraits are a record of a brief encounter.