Walking along the world’s beaches and coasts, I collect what comes on my path. There isn’t a place on Earth where natural finds such as shells, seaweed and feathers are not mixed with bottles and bottle tops, drinking straws, shoe soles and tiny pieces of plastic.
Of these objects, I make photograms by means of cyanotype. The result is a blue world of seaweed, sea creatures, plastic and tins which initially make a cheerful impression. On more careful observation, you realise that what you look at is beach debris, consumer waste, toys forgotten after a day at the seaside, a balloon that ended its journey washed up on the beach having exploded in the air.
The Beach Project is inspired by cyanotypes made by Anna Atkins, the first female photographer, who made images of the algae of England’s western coasts. In 1843 she published the world’s very first photo book displaying these photograms.