LATEST NEWS - Rachel Rimell Photography

14 November 2024

Why Professional Headshots Are a Must-Have for Individuals and Small Businesses in North Yorkshire

A professional studio headshot can be one of the best investments you make for your career or business. A well-crafted headshot doesn’t just make you look great—it can also open doors to new opportunities by projecting a professional, approachable, and confident image. With such a versatile asset in hand, there are countless ways to put your headshot to work in both personal and business contexts.

Here’s a guide to the many ways you can use professional studio headshots, from showcasing your LinkedIn profile to enhancing your local marketing efforts in North Yorkshire.

1. LinkedIn Profiles and Online Networking

Your LinkedIn profile photo is one of the first things people notice, and in a professional networking platform, a high-quality headshot can set you apart. North Yorkshire’s business community spans a range of industries, from tech to hospitality, and LinkedIn is a popular space for local professionals to connect, whether you’re based in York, Harrogate, or Scarborough.

With a polished headshot, you make a memorable first impression on colleagues, recruiters, and potential clients. Many professionals in North Yorkshire know that a professional LinkedIn photo shows dedication and makes you more approachable for networking, job opportunities, and collaborations.

Mary wanted to update her Linked In profile photo to present a slick professional image that also captured her approachable and friendly personality:

2. Business Websites and “About” Pages

If you’re a business owner, freelancer, or entrepreneur, a professional headshot is essential for your website. A high-quality photo on your “About” page adds a personal touch, helping potential clients or customers in North Yorkshire feel connected to your brand as well as introducing the face or faces behind the business. People prefer doing business with someone they feel they know and trust, and an authentic, professional image helps bridge that gap online as well as illustrating a commitment to quality.

For businesses that rely on local reputation – like those in North Yorkshire’s bustling tourism, real estate, or food and beverage sectors – or are based on personal connection, a well-composed headshot can create the right tone and association right from the first click.

Rosalind needed some professional headshot images for a variety of purposes including her about me page and social media platforms promoting her health and fitness business based in York but operating nationally.

3. Social Media Profiles

In the digital age, your social media profiles are a part of your personal and professional brand. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are all platforms where your audience may first encounter you. Using a professional headshot as your profile picture shows that you’re serious about your image, whether you’re engaging with local clients or a broader online community.

Many North Yorkshire professionals, from creative entrepreneurs in Whitby to consultants in Richmond, leverage social media to build their brands. A cohesive, professional headshot can increase your engagement, build trust, and help you stand out among competitors. You may be based here in North Yorkshire but social media means your clients are global. A great studio headshot introduces an artisan based in Malton to a potential customer in the Maldives!

4. Print and Digital Marketing Materials

Your professional headshot is a versatile asset that can be used across all sorts of marketing materials, both online and offline. Here are a few ideas:

Brochures and Flyers: Whether you’re promoting a service or a small business, a high-quality photo of yourself can make print materials more personable and relatable.
Email Newsletters: For those running email campaigns, adding a photo to your newsletter’s “About Me” section can enhance trust and give your communications a more personal touch.
Press Releases: If you’re being featured in a local publication or releasing company news, a professional headshot is often requested by editors and journalists.
Marketing bios: Maybe you’re speaking at a conference or being featured as an industry expert and voice of authority. A great headshot elevates your professional biography and showcases the face behind the achievements.

Using a professional image in your marketing not only elevates your brand but also helps create a consistent image that clients and customers can recognise, both online and offline.

Stuart was speaking at a conference and needed a casual but professional headshot to accompany his bio in the conference brochure:

5. Company and Team Pages

If you’re part of a larger team or company in North Yorkshire, professional studio headshots create a cohesive and polished look for team pages on websites. Showing the people behind your business gives a more transparent, relatable feel to your brand and can build trust with customers.

This approach is especially effective for service-based businesses where the client relationship is key, such as legal firms, real estate agencies, and consulting companies in North Yorkshire. A set of professional headshots can create a sense of unity and professionalism across your team’s online presence.

This Northallerton estate agent needed updated headshots, taken on location, for a variety of printed and online purposes:

white woman with pink shirt and blue bazer against a blue door

6. Networking and Speaking Engagements

North Yorkshire’s business scene is vibrant, with regular networking events, conferences, and local meetups. For those presenting at events or speaking at conferences, a professional headshot is often used in promotional materials, event listings, and speaker bios.

If you’re preparing for an upcoming event, having a professional headshot ready to go means you’ll have a polished image on event websites, programs, and social media. For local entrepreneurs or professionals, it’s an opportunity to present a consistent, professional image that colleagues and new contacts will remember.

7. Personal Branding for Creatives and Freelancers

For those in North Yorkshire’s vibrant creative industries— writers, artists, artisans, and designers—personal branding is essential. A professional headshot is a simple yet powerful way to convey your unique style and personality.

With an authentic, high-quality photo, you can show clients and followers who you are, helping to establish trust and connection. From portfolios and personal websites to Etsy shops and online marketplaces, a professional headshot can make all the difference in creating a cohesive and professional brand image that resonates with your target audience.

Artists Charlotte and Sue wanted headshots to accompany their work in catalogues, on their websites and on social media:

8. Email Signatures

Adding a professional headshot to your email signature is a smart way to make your communications more personable, especially if you interact frequently with clients or colleagues online. A friendly, professional photo can help add a personal touch, making you more recognizable and memorable in your day-to-day exchanges.

For businesses with North Yorkshire clients or contacts, this little detail can go a long way in creating a stronger, more personal connection, especially for those who may not meet you face-to-face often.

9. Job Applications and Professional Portfolios

If you’re looking to advance in your career or even switch industries, having a professional headshot is essential for job applications, online portfolios, and professional websites. Many North Yorkshire recruiters and hiring managers appreciate a professional image that reflects the candidate’s dedication and attention to detail.

Whether you’re sending a digital portfolio, applying for jobs through LinkedIn, or setting up a personal website to showcase your work, a professional headshot ensures you make the best first impression possible.

Alexander was starting out on a modelling career and needed some professtional headshots in a variety of poses to send out to prospective modelling agencies:

Finding the Right Photographer in North Yorkshire

A great headshot starts with a great photographer:

Look for experience with professional headshots: Not all photographers specialise in headshots, so look for someone who understands lighting, composition, and poses that work best for portraits.
Consider their style and portfolio: Every photographer has their own approach, so take a look at their past work to see if it aligns with the look you want.
Look for a photographer with a studio: While most photographers can come to you bear in mind that studio style photos require studio lights and a backdrop etc. That can take a lot of time – and space – to set up and not all workplaces can accommodate this. It can also feel awkward to be posing for photos while your colleagues wander past with cups of tea! A photographer with a studio has a dedicated space and set up that can make the whole experience more comfortable and efficient.
Ask about location options: You may also want to consider incorporating the region’s stunning scenery, from the Yorkshire Dales to the North York Moors, depending on your brand values. Talk to your photographer to establish the best options for your business.
Find a photographer who puts you at ease: Not many people actually enjoy having their photo taken! So it’s important to find someone you feel comfortable with who will make you feel at ease and get the best shots for you.

From LinkedIn to email signatures, a professional studio headshot is a versatile tool that can boost your personal and professional presence across North Yorkshire and beyond. Whether you’re looking to build a career, promote your small business, or create a memorable online brand, a professional headshot can give you the polish and confidence you need to succeed.

With so many ways to use a professional headshot, the investment quickly pays off in increased engagement, credibility, and brand recognition. So why not make your mark? Let a professional headshot help you put your best face forward and book a session with me in my professional photography studio in Malton or talk to me about a location headshot session.

4 women on sofa for professional team photo pink sofa

13 November 2024

Why Professional Headshots are Essential for Your North Yorkshire Small Business

For small business owners in North Yorkshire, a professional headshot is much more than just a nice photograph—it’s an essential part of establishing a reputable brand presence in this unique region. Whether you’re based in York, Harrogate, or the beautiful North York Moors, having a high-quality, professional headshot can make a substantial difference in how clients and partners perceive your business. Let’s explore why investing in professional headshots can be one of the best decisions you make for your North Yorkshire business.

1. Make a Strong First Impression in a Close-Knit Business Community

North Yorkshire’s business community is close-knit, with a strong emphasis on relationships and personal connections. First impressions here can make a significant impact, whether you’re meeting clients in person at a local event or engaging them online. A professional headshot can help you put your best foot forward, showing clients that you’re serious, credible, and invested in your business’s image.

Standing out with a polished, professional look can be the deciding factor for clients choosing between you and a competitor. Whether in small market towns like Malton, Ripon or Skipton or bigger cities like York or Harrogate, small businesses often rely on local reputation and word-of-mouth: a great headshot speaks volumes and reinforces that you’re committed to quality in every area of your business.

2. Reinforce Your Brand in a Picturesque and Iconic Setting

North Yorkshire is known for its stunning landscapes, historic architecture, and quintessentially British charm. A professional photographer who knows the area well can help you incorporate the unique beauty of North Yorkshire into your headshots, adding a layer of authenticity and local flair that resonates with your audience as well as standing out from the city crowd. Imagine a headshot taken with a backdrop of York Minster, the lush greenery of the Yorkshire Dales, or the vibrant market squares of towns like Knaresborough, Pickering and Malton.

This type of local branding not only strengthens your image but also resonates with clients and partners who are familiar with the area. When clients see that your business is deeply rooted in North Yorkshire, they feel more connected to your brand. You’re no longer just another company—they see you as a part of the North Yorkshire community, which enhances trust and appeal.

3. Boost Your Online Presence and Engagement in Regional Networks

As a North Yorkshire small business, your online presence is key to reaching clients not only locally but also in surrounding regions. Many potential clients might first discover you through digital platforms, whether that’s a search on Google for local services, your LinkedIn profile, or community networks like York’s Minster FM or Discover Yorkshire.

A professional headshot can make sure you look credible and engaging in these online spaces, making a strong impression with both local customers and potential collaborators. On platforms like LinkedIn, profiles with high-quality photos are far more likely to receive profile views and engagement. In a region like North Yorkshire, where local and regional connections are vital, these impressions can be the start of meaningful partnerships.

4. Connect with Your Audience on a Personal Level

For small business owners in North Yorkshire, where local pride and trust are central to the community, a professional headshot adds a personal touch that resonates with clients. Your headshot is often the first point of connection between you and your clients, especially if you work in an industry where trust and approachability are essential, like hospitality, health services, real estate or consulting.

The friendly face behind a local York-based restaurant, a Harrogate wellness studio, Northallerton estate agent or a Whitby bed-and-breakfast reassures clients that they’re in good hands. Professional photographers who understand the local ethos can help you create a headshot that feels warm and approachable, making it easier for clients to feel comfortable choosing your services.

5. Position Yourself as an Industry Leader in North Yorkshire

Professional headshots are an effective way to set yourself apart as a serious, credible business owner in North Yorkshire. For those looking to become influential figures in their industries—be it in North Yorkshire’s booming tourism sector, the vibrant creative scene, or its rich agricultural industry—an expertly taken headshot establishes you as a trusted, reliable professional.

In a region with thriving business networks like the York & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce or the Harrogate Business Hub, the impression you make online can help you network more effectively. When clients, investors, or potential partners see a professional headshot, they recognise that you take yourself seriously and respect the local business community. This can make the difference when they’re choosing to work with you.

Ready to Invest in Your North Yorkshire Business Image?

Investing in a professional headshot can have a lasting positive impact on your small business enhancing your brand’s appearance and introducing the face or faces behind the business. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to elevate your established business, a high-quality headshot is a step toward building trust and establishing a memorable presence in the community.

Case study

Here’s a real-world example of how I worked with a small, female-led team of estate agents in Northallerton to create a series of vibrant team photos and individual headshots to give them online presence and marketing materials that extra bit of flair. The team at Youngs RPS specialises in charming local properties across North Yorkshire, from historic cottages to contemporary townhomes, and wanted their brand to convey approachability, warmth, and professionalism. We chose a beautifully designed but quaint cottage in the gorgeous village of Osmotherley as the backdrop for their team photos and headshots, perfectly aligned with the types of homes they represent. The cottage’s cozy yet polished aesthetic and sharp eye for interior design helped create a setting that not only complemented their approachable personalities but also underscored their expertise and knowledge of the local market. Each photo captured the team’s friendly, inviting expressions, while the setting lent an extra layer of credibility and style, helping prospective clients feel at ease and trust their expertise in North Yorkshire’s unique property landscape. As ever, everyone wanted to look their professional best and the final images have been used across a range of online platforms including updating their website and social media presence as well as featuring in print for a feature on the team in Yorkshire Life.

two white women with dark long hair on a pink sofa with two white women with long dark hair standing behind against a fireplace with large pelican painting on the wall, professional team photo

informal team photo of 4 white women sitting and laughing on a sofa with framed wall art behind

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. Unnatural pink image of cracked earth

26 September 2024

TERRA INCOGNITA: On This Land | In This Land | Of This Land

A meditiative commentary on and contemplation of the conflicted concepts of land ownership and land access or trespass.

Terra Incognita considers the barriers, boundaries and social constructs surrounding and imposed on our access to the land and the frames through which we view the ‘landscape’ as a separate entity to ourselves – viewed as an object, used as a resource, owned as a possession.

The work explores how permitted routes of access, while ostensibly opening up the land to many, in fact entrench this disconnection from the environment – reinforcing the concept of ‘landscape’ as a curated scene to be viewed from afar rather than an environment in which to immerse ourselves and rediscover our symbiotic connection, placing us in conflict with a land we should be attuned to. The concept of trespass – and our wariness to do so – discolours our perception and stewardship of the land, dislocating us from something that we are part of and connected to on a deeper level.

Through a combination of stills, moving imagery, soundscape and performance Terra Incognita explores public rights of way in North Yorkshire, to consider and challenge the socially constructed and accepted restrictions to ‘stick to the trodden path’. Evoking dark fairy tales of Little Red Riding Hood and Greek mythology, the work contemplates our kinship and associations with and memories of the land alongside the new cartography and traces that we leave if we trespass off the right of way: mapping new pathways responding to the contours of the land, unravelling our preconceptions of trespass like Ariadne’s ball of thread – a safety net enabling us to lose ourselves in the landscape while ensuring that we do not remain lost – to find our way to reconnect to, and to reclaim our place in, and part of, the land beyond the curated ‘scape’.

ON THIS LAND

IN THIS LAND

OF THIS LAND

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. Image of a knee in blue jeans crossing a fence

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire, Woman in blue jeans and red top with eyes blacked out and two dogs

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. image of an arm against hazy woodland backdrop

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. Image of waymarker on North York Moors with yellow arrow against a dry stone wall

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. Woman with hands over her eyes with a projected image of the landscape and no right of way sign

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. Image of a gate with public right of way sign in unnatural colours

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. Image of trees in distance with barbed wire in forefront

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. trackway into the woods

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. hazy woodland with white flowers and over-saturated greens

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. Hazy woodlamd with white flowers and over saturated green projected onto a woman standing within the landscape

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. woman standing against a projected image of stones and water

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. woman hidden within projected image of the ground and tree roots

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. boggy ground

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. discoloured in blue cracked earth

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. discoloured in blue cracked earth projected onto a woman in white

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. image of water and grasses in unnatural colours projected onto the figure of a woman in white

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire

Photographic work exploring trespass and right to roam North Yorkshire. unnatural blue image of cracked earth

3 June 2024

EDGELANDS: THE EDGE OF ELSEWHERE Available to buy now!

Edgelands: The Edge of Elsewhere is a new zine by myself and fellow photographic artist Dawn Rodgers collaborating together under the partnership Limen.

Dawn and I met on the MA Photography course at Falmouth and discovered a shared interest in liminal spaces and human place within the landscape. Much of our work has shared touchpoints so we decided to collaborate on some work – the first result of which is our first zine together.

Edgelands: The Edge Of Elsewhere explores those space thar are neither here nor there – the spaces between places: the hard edges and the soft mergings where one place becomes another or somewhere betwixt. Inspired by the book Edgelands by Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts, our edgelands are the places where modern life recedes, where the space becomes thin, where the wilderness starts to regain its natural hold.

The zine is now available to buy here. Hopefully the first of many!

3 June 2024

Free mindful photography walks in Ryedale

There are two remaining dates for my mindful photography walks in Ryedale. Supported by North Yorkshire Council Small Arts Grant funding, the walks are free and suitable for anyone who has a camera-enabled smartphone, a DSLR or compact camera (film or digital cameras – all welcome). No photography experience is necessary!

The walks are a gentle introduction to mindful photography techniques while enjoying the Ryedale countryside.

Note the Rievaulx walk date has changed from Thursday 27th to Tuesday 25th June.

Contact me to book.

3 June 2024

FRAGMENTS: Monuments & Traces exhibition

Images from my Fragments series are currently on show at Bias in Malton.

The Monoliths and Traces images are taken from the sculptural photobook Fragments which explores metamorphic and abstracted memories of the seascape. Fragments was produced as a limited edition handmade photographic sculptural book, presented as a sculptural map that unfolds to reveal and obscure fragmented imagery unrestricted by geographic boundaries or temporal chronology, that continuously shift as the viewer moves through it, much in the way that the seascape itself and time are in constant flux.

In the Monoliths, objects are collected from the shoreline and photographed in the studio: out of context and without frame of reference, the title implying size, scale and historical permanence that does not reflect the true nature of the original object, enabling the objects to take on totemic significance as memory placeholders. Taken with a large format analogue camera, the images are sustainably developed using homemade seaweed developer, not only minimising the chemical footprint of the development process but imbibing the final image with its original location.

With Traces 35mm negative film is ‘souped’ in seawater before developing with seaweed developer or objects and artefacts from the seascape are places directly onto undeveloped or rejected large format negatives, steeped in seawater, leaving their salty trace and that of the sea on the final image.

white hands holding two boobins of wool, one orange and one cream

20 March 2023

THE HANDWORKERS | Exhibition at Ryedale Folk Museum |North Yorkshire Moors Photographer

The hands of a woman in a blue dress using tools to cut willow for basket making

A celebration of the heritage skills of Ryedale, The Handworkers is now on show at The Ryedale Folk Museum.

Rooted in historic handskills handed down through generations, the series documents the people keeping traditional rural skills and handcrafts alive in the 21st century helping to preserve their past and cement their future.

A celebration of the creativity of the region and the preservation of traditional workmanship in a time where mechanised processes have often superseded the heritage skills of generations. Working with traditional materials, methods and crafts, each handworker’s personal touch is embedded in their work, honouring techniques that have been handed down through the ages, often with a strong environmental concern using the materials of the land and the locality.

A ceramicist who uses clay dug from the land at Kirkham Priory, mixed with plant fibres foraged from the locality along the banks of the River Derwent, handcrafted and fired in a traditional fire pit in her back garden – a technique used since Roman times; a thatcher concerned with preserving the Yorkshire heritage of thatching with straw so that the traditions and skills of wheat straw husbandry are not lost; a blacksmith adapting to modern times with an induction forge while preserving traditional skills with ancient recipes for linseed oil paint for wrought iron gates and railings, hand-forged that will last hundred of years; a basket-maker bringing back to life the design of a nineteenth century handmade laundry basket; juice-makers keeping traditions alive with a hand apple press for Yorkshire orchards and fruiteries; a weaver using a traditional hand loom to create beautiful modern designs for the home; an eco-printer using the land’s resources to make ecologically-sustainable botanical textile prints.

a lady's hands remove leaves and flowers from a bright yellow piece of fabric revealing the colours and shapes they have left behind

The Handworkers honours the craftsmanship and skills of the generations that came before to hand on to those that follow.

The exhibition runs from Monday 20th March through to Sunday 30th April in the gallery space at The Ryedale Folk Museum.

You can see more from the series here as well as watch a short film about each subject.

white woman in blue dress standing outside her workshop with two bent pieces of willow with her willow steamer in background

a white man and woman stand outside a green wooden shed with pink buckets and a sack filled with apples

A white middle aged woman in a pale jumper with a botanical print chiffon scarf and shoulder length grey hair stands with a colander and a pair of scissors beside some pea climber frames in her kitchen garden

white male thatcher with grey hair standing beside a large thatched roof carrying a bundle of reeds with a ladder in background

Blacksmith working at an anvil with glowing red sparks flying off

A young woman in a white t-shirt with dark curly hair standing at a traditional style loom

woman with long purple and dark hair crouched outside her pottery studio mixing wet clay on a screenprinting board as a sieve over a bucket, wearing rubber gloves

12 December 2022

LIES A CALM ALONG THE DEEP

Lies A Calm Along The Deep explores my connection to the vast empty space of the seascape as a place of solace and solitude.

I suffer from misophonia, an auditory processing disorder in which layers of noise compete for attention, intruding on my internal monologue. Facing the horizon of the vast empty seascape, and immersion in the enveloping hold of the waves, a stillness is invited in, calming the internal chatter.

Here the sounds are soothing and meditative, calming the cacophony, evoking an inner quiet: a place to ‘just be’, alone with my thoughts until they too drift away into insignificance with the lapping of the waves. The vast is a place where my mind is freed of its claustrophobic constraints to expand into the moment and reconnect with the ‘out there’ beyond the confines of the physical body.

Immersing in the sea allows me to shed the ego of ‘the self’ and to reconnect with something bigger than myself – to find a liminal space where, as Solnit states, “the inside and outside are more intertwined than the usual distinctions allow.” (2017:119).

William Burroughs said that nothing exists unless it is observed. Lies A Calm Along The Deep however challenges this self-centred perspective as humans. The vast out there continues regardless of our gaze. Through immersion in the vast – or the sublime – the metaphorical barriers we construct between ourselves and the beyond, and the illusory frames through which we view the landscape as an object, dissolve and evaporate. Here we reconnect, reposition, recognise our place in the universe: acknowledging the paradox of our insignificance and yet our inextricable interconnectivity.

While we are unable to remain permanently in this state of being – to do so would be to recede from the world as we know it – we carry these experiences within us, in our memories and recollections, fragments layering upon layer, melding with cultural reference points, disintegrating, morphing and dissipating over time, until the pull to the sea calls us again, to quieten the discord and once again invite the stillness in, to be at one with our vast beyond.

Lies A Calm Along The Deep is a multi-media visual song and immersive reflection on my experiences of being in, connecting with, and recollection of the sea.

12 December 2022

FRAGMENTS: An exploration of the abstracted nature of memories and associations of the sea

“Fragments tremble at the threshold between wholeness and partialness; the fragment engages the mind in imaginative reconstruction … [they] exist not only at the spatial threshold, but also temporally.” (Bowring 2017: 109)

Fragments is a photographic sculptural book exploring the abstracted nature of memories and associations of the seascape, mapping the time and space of the internal mindscape, unrestricted by geographic boundaries or temporal chronology.

It considers the metamorphic affect of time, memory and nostalgia on our relationship to, and experience of, the seascape.

Using objects scavenged from the strandline, with a recurring motif of rocks – symbolic as fragments of space and time and the paradox of constancy and flux – the series examines notions of abstracted memories and the threshold between the internal sense of the world and the external physicality. The series creates new, fragmented and reconstructed, otherworldly landscapes as a metaphor for the internal mindscape, mapping the transition from durational experience to deep-seated nostalgic associations.

Evoking an essence of remembered and half-recalled experiences and sense of place, abstract and semi-abstract imagery embeds the sea itself through the use of seawater in the process, leaving its imprint on the final image. Exposed negatives, negative photograms and polaroid images are soaked in seawater, documenting a process of distortion and deterioration as a metaphor for the impact of time on memories, peeling away the layers of emulsion, leaving only fragments of the original. The traces remaining in the final image map the conversation with time and the threshold between external experience and internal reconstructed memory.

Punctuating the ethereal quality of the colourful abstract imagery, seaweed developed black and white images of artefacts from the seascape act as totemic signifiers, their alienation from the natural environment underlined through the absence of colour. These solitary still life objects “invested with something of the inner experience” (Townsend 2016: 209) are interspersed with self-portraits incorporating the artefacts, performatively obscuring or revealing the face, symbolically referencing their significance as transitional objects or memory placeholders and placing the self back in the recollected sense of the seascape.

Presented as a sculptural ‘map’, the piece unfolds revealing and obscuring fragmented imagery that continuously shifts as the viewer moves through it, much in the way that both the physical seascape is in constant flux and time folds in on itself within the mind’s eye, creating new touchpoints and an ever-changing temporal space. Creating a transitional space where past, present and future can co-exist, the ‘map’ does not unfold to flatten and reveal the contours of the landscape or enable the viewer to find their way – images are deliberately untitled in their assembled format, without borders, frames, numbered pages or text to orientate the viewer – but instead enables a glimpse into the evolving mindscape, where it is impossible to ground yourself and where time loses its linear perspective, enabling the viewer to immerse themselves, not in the sea itself, but in the memory of the seascape.

12 December 2022

EBB/FLOW: A dialogue with between land and sea

Exploring the thresholds, traces and liminal states of littoral space alongside personal connection to, and place within, the seascape, Ebb/Flow is a handmade book that metaphorically considers the transitions and sense of self associated with the seascape.

Focusing on the dialogue between land and sea and the liminal state of the foreshore as it is reclaimed by the sea and relinquished to the shoreline with the ebb and flow of the tide, the images consider the the sense of timelessness and constancy of the sea, juxtaposed against its state of flux: a discourse on the ‘traigh’(Gaelic for both ebb and beach) – permanence and impermanence, inextricably intertwining this littoral space that is sometimes water, sometimes land, experienced through the layers of human perception. Enduring beyond human observation or presence, unconstrained by, and indifferent to, the manmade construct of time.

Introducing seawater into the development process embeds the sea itself in the images, the salt crystallising on the negatives and leaving its mark in the final image; while seaweed developed images of artefacts collected along the strandline and photographed in the studio signify traces of the shore, devoid of colour, infused and ‘brought back to life’ with seaweed itself – printed onto tracing paper to overlay images of the shoreline itself.

Seawater, seasalt, seaweed and cyanotypes of strandline artefacts are embedded in the fibres of the handmade book cover alongside tactile seaweed imprints.

The layers of memories and knowledge in our subconscious as part of our place identity are signified with maps, nautical charts, tide timetables and polaroids on acetate and tracing paper overlays, illustrating how memories shift and fade and transfer, the indefinitive nature of cartographic and geographic boundaries that shift with the tide, and our perceptual experience.

Inserted into the book is a small concertina pull out examining the threshold of crossing the North York Moors at the point at which the sea can be glimpsed, including pinhole imagery taken between spring and neap tides on the Moors and on the coastline.

The book can be viewed both forwards as Ebb and backwards as Flow, deliberately using the vernacular rather than technical terms, beginning with the lowest ebb of the tide and working towards its highest flow and vice versa.

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Award winning lens-based artist, filmmaker and photographer - Malton, North Yorkshire

Fine art photographic prints | Editorial photography & films | Small Businesses & Creatives branding photography & films | Portraits & Headshots | Products photography and creative content | Natural, relaxed documentary style family photography & films | North Yorkshire. Copyright Rachel Rimell 2024