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Right, this is my new 'big' project.
“Of all the British coastline, this is hardly the prettiest or the most unspoilt: its sands are not the most golden, and there are no rock pools or hidden coves. Neither is it the most dramatic: no pounding surf, no rugged cliffs.” So wrote Jean Sprackland about what is promoted as The Sefton Coast in Strands. I was born and brought up in Southport, the not quite brash enough, not quite genteel, enough seaside resort in what us old timers still think of as Lancashire. Although we moved ten miles out of town when I was nine I still retain a strong connection to the town, and it was where I took a lot of my early photos in the late 1970s. The beach and the tourist attractions in winter being my favourite subjects. When I returned to photography in 2010 it wasn't long before I was back at the beach with my camera.
Gradually I realised there was more to photograph than the sand, sea and sky and that in winter there are still plenty of people using the beach for a variety of activities. Not just dog walkers, there are still people collecting the coal which washes up after a big wind and tide just as we used to do when I was small child. But now there are metal detectorists and kite surfers, unheard of in the 1960s. Ginger McCain and red Rum are no longer with us, but there are others who continue to ride horses along the shore.
I could write quite an essay about the beach, rapidly shrinking as salt marsh encroaches on the formerly extensive sands. If this project gets as far as a book I probably will write that essay. Anyway, the photos are about the beach itself, but more about the people who use it and the things they get up to, primarily during the winter months when the holiday makers aren't around, but there are Lifeguards and rangers who appear during the spring and smmer who ought to be included. The idea has been rattling around in my head since I saw two blokes metal detecting near the pier (they were OK with me taking photos just so long as I didn't show their faces!) and it got stronger when I spent quite some time photographing the kite surfing community.
It was all quite random though. Now I hope to pull things together, having got a better idea of what I want to do. Which is to document the many activities that take place on the beach. There is quite a list. The big change is that I've started to ask people to 'pose' for portraits. Not something I'm used to doing.
I'll kick off this post with some pics from my existing files, and follow up with my attempts at portraiture.
This is what the beach looked like circa 1978.
Where I got the germ of an idea.
Some of my many kite surfing pictures to give an idea of how I want to show people doing what they do, as well as the people.
Wider views of people in the beachscape such as bait diggers.
And details of the beach and how it's changing through the encroaching saltmarsh and the shifting sand dunes
Next post some people pics.
“Of all the British coastline, this is hardly the prettiest or the most unspoilt: its sands are not the most golden, and there are no rock pools or hidden coves. Neither is it the most dramatic: no pounding surf, no rugged cliffs.” So wrote Jean Sprackland about what is promoted as The Sefton Coast in Strands. I was born and brought up in Southport, the not quite brash enough, not quite genteel, enough seaside resort in what us old timers still think of as Lancashire. Although we moved ten miles out of town when I was nine I still retain a strong connection to the town, and it was where I took a lot of my early photos in the late 1970s. The beach and the tourist attractions in winter being my favourite subjects. When I returned to photography in 2010 it wasn't long before I was back at the beach with my camera.
Gradually I realised there was more to photograph than the sand, sea and sky and that in winter there are still plenty of people using the beach for a variety of activities. Not just dog walkers, there are still people collecting the coal which washes up after a big wind and tide just as we used to do when I was small child. But now there are metal detectorists and kite surfers, unheard of in the 1960s. Ginger McCain and red Rum are no longer with us, but there are others who continue to ride horses along the shore.
I could write quite an essay about the beach, rapidly shrinking as salt marsh encroaches on the formerly extensive sands. If this project gets as far as a book I probably will write that essay. Anyway, the photos are about the beach itself, but more about the people who use it and the things they get up to, primarily during the winter months when the holiday makers aren't around, but there are Lifeguards and rangers who appear during the spring and smmer who ought to be included. The idea has been rattling around in my head since I saw two blokes metal detecting near the pier (they were OK with me taking photos just so long as I didn't show their faces!) and it got stronger when I spent quite some time photographing the kite surfing community.
It was all quite random though. Now I hope to pull things together, having got a better idea of what I want to do. Which is to document the many activities that take place on the beach. There is quite a list. The big change is that I've started to ask people to 'pose' for portraits. Not something I'm used to doing.
I'll kick off this post with some pics from my existing files, and follow up with my attempts at portraiture.
This is what the beach looked like circa 1978.
Where I got the germ of an idea.
Some of my many kite surfing pictures to give an idea of how I want to show people doing what they do, as well as the people.
Wider views of people in the beachscape such as bait diggers.
And details of the beach and how it's changing through the encroaching saltmarsh and the shifting sand dunes
Next post some people pics.