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Rachel Spender: Essex Saltmarsh from the Air

Exhibitions: FREE

Rachel Spender: Essex Saltmarsh from the Air

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Thursday 03 December 2020 - Sunday 14 March 2021

Lightwell galleries

Tributary Tree (2002 - 2006) Rachel Spender. Courtesy the artist.

Photo by Anna Lukala

Photo by Anna Lukala

See our local landscape from a different perspective in an exhibition of black and white photographs of Essex saltmarshes by Essex based artist and photographer, Rachel Spender.

Taken using film cameras from a small aeroplane and hand printed in a traditional darkroom, the aerial photographs focus on the sculptural and textural qualities of the marshes – with the intention of highlighting the beauty of the landscape and our responsibility to look after it.

“The textures, patterns and sculptural formations are caused by the effects of tides on shingle bank and saltmarsh – the natural breakdown of crustaceans and seashells- and what happens when fresh water meets saltwater, and when humans, across the ages, have interrupted this natural flow of events.

All is revealed at low water, when the tide is right out, and in the low winter sun which casts long, sharp shadows.”

– Rachel Spender, 2020.

Discover more about the photographs from the artist
black and white aerial photograph of ancient grazing marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex black and white aerial photograph of salt marsh in Essex

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Welcome area at Firstsite. 'Big Hello' (2018) Peter Liversidge. Photo by Jayne Lloyd.

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