Active Material – Exploring a dynamic, ever-changing coastal environment
In November 2021 I began an on-going, in-depth study of salt marsh, mudflats and river estuary on the edge of Morecambe Bay, where I live. The work sources photography, video, sound recordings, and drawings, along with ongoing research about salt marshes and their importance to humans and none humans alike. Whilst making the work I’ve developed an even deeper appreciation of this dynamic coastal environment and its ability to adapt.
Currently the salt marsh, mudflats, and surrounding coastline are eroding at an alarming rate, transforming the area beyond recognition.
I am in the process of sifting through the work and experimenting with ways of disseminating it. So, this is very much a work that is evolving. Ideally, at some point, I’d like to develop it into a project that involves my local community.
The tide pushes pebbles up the shore. They rub at the edge of the salt marsh like sandpaper, finally enveloping a ghostly pool.
Nothing stays the same for long….
Mudflats erode creating lines of tiny mud ‘cliffs’ around the edge of the salt marsh and out onto the Bay.
The earth continues to create itself….
A study of the edge of the marsh where it meets the sea. I wish I had spent my whole life paying this much attention. Now I can’t stop looking…
A small section of earth (approx 3mx3m) that I often walk across, reconstructed using numerous photographs made from different viewpoints.
As the body and camera move slowly across the ground lines and grids emerge between technology and nature.
A meticulously made manual timelapse…. Moving carefully across the ground and making a photograph of the earth with every step. This way of seeing is physically demanding.
Overwhelming horseshoe (mud) canyons cut their way through the salt marsh at the River Keer estuary. How can I express the scale of these transformations? I feel very small.
Houses overlook a rapidly eroding salt marsh. What does the future hold for those who live here?
Find out about salt marshes and their preservation on the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust website