The Naze is a set of images exploring Space, Place and Time. The Naze itself is both a man-altered and human-altered landscape. It holds representations of human history and of deep time which are evident in the layers of rock which were formed millions of years ago. It is also a place that is used for leisure.
Yi Fu Tuan comments on the relationship between Time and Place. Time can be cyclical as in the changing of the seasons and the movements of the tides. Or we can think of it as directional. The Naze represents a Place as time made visible. There are remnants everywhere of the past. The fossils buried in the sand that bring tourists to fossil hunts. Due to the rapid sea erosion, the beach is strewn with decaying bricks from old buildings, old sea defences and the second world war lookout posts which once stood on the cliffs.
Presented as a book, including images of the types of fossils regularly found on the beach, the images show the textures of the rock and the ongoing evidence of erosion as well as the human interaction with this place.
The images were inspired by Edward Burtynskys ‘Anthropocene’ which references ‘deep time’ and features images of humans at their leisure against the backdrop of grand geological formations. Aesthetically, The Naze references Jem Southam’s landscape images which focus on the cultural mythologies of nature. And finally, the series ends with a little warning much like Richard Misrachs, ‘Ominous beach photos’. Human presence has destabilised Climate mechanisms that now threaten our very existence, something we seem to be oblivious to.
Overall though, The Naze is a compassionate view of how us Humans interact with Landscape spaces. These spaces are representative of home and of memories. We develop meaningful connections with these places and see these seemingly wild and natural spaces as places to reconnect with nature and human history.
Landscape, Place and Environment 