Twelve months ago I had this idea, after a year of challenge, to bring together different perspectives around the globe with a uniting theme of the sea. Starting on 31st December 2020 after what can only be described as a challenging year for everyone, the sea and the horizon was a beacon of hope as we inched into 2021. 2021 by no means brought the return to normal that we’d hoped for and we’re ending the year with yet another new variant on the horizon.

But despite the tumultuousness, the sea and the horizon has remained a constant, always there when we need it for contemplation, rejoicing or just reconnecting with the call of the wild.

I’m so grateful to all the artists who took part – and especially to those who reminded me each month that we all needed to post something! Turns out I was very forgetful in 2021! This little community of artists that we’ve built, joined in our love of the sea, has been inspiring and supportive and brimming full of talent. It’s been an absolute joy seeing each perspective each month – from Canada to Australia.

November saw me pulling together more work in progress on my Strandline project, with a mini project that became Ebb/Flow exploring the dialogue between land and sea. I started by photographing the November spring tide and low, mid and high tide at Reighton Sands in North Yorkshire.

Reighton Sands at low tide
Reighton Sands and mid tide
Reighton Sands at high tide

Exploring the foreshore as it is reclaimed and relinquished by the sea with each tide, I collected artefacts left by the sea, photographing them back in my studio black and white, devoid of colour, out of situ and developing the negatives with seaweed developer to figuratively ‘bring them back to life.’

Exploring the foreshore as it is reclaimed and relinquished by the sea with each tide, I collected artefacts left by the sea, photographing them back in my studio black and white, devoid of colour, out of situ and developing the negatives with seaweed developer to figuratively ‘bring them back to life.’

The result was a small artist’s book – handmade with a cover made from pulped cyanotypes of strandline artefacts, hand bound with old fishing rope collected along the shoreline, interspersed with maps, charts and polaroid overlays signifying the various perceptual influences on our association with the seascape and place.

Welcome to our Coast to Coast loop. We are a group of photographers from around the world, from timezones as far flung as Australia to Canada and in between, each with a different seascape. Coast to Coast aims to document our changing sea views and perspectives – both literal and philosophical – of what the sea means to us, month to month through the changing seasons. To follow the loop go to the talented Marialaine Delisle