‘The beach is a place where a man can feel
He’s the only soul in the world that’s real.’

(Pete Townsend 1979)

The land and sea, and my obsession with photographing them, form an essential part of my identity.

My creative photographic practice is a constantly developing process of visual interrogation, with particular reference to the transformative power of light. The work documents collisions between the mundane and the sacred, investigating moments of visual alchemy when the ordinary becomes extraordinary; when dramatic or strange light creates a dynamic aesthetic that stimulates a new awareness of the familiar.

Images often refer to an aesthetic of the manmade. Landscapes are punctuated by pylons and wind turbines, sky lines are criss-crossed with cables or populated by cooling towers, the ‘natural’ landscape results from agricultural usage, and the very land itself is shaped by construction and quarrying. The work challenges notions of the sublime by defining an aesthetic response to these ‘ugly’ interventions which intrude upon the romantic convention of the ‘picturesque’.

My photographic practice is a vital part of my identity, enabling me to develop a celebratory awareness of the everyday by documenting the continually evolving narrative of changing light, weather and seasons. The work is primarily dialogic, recording the minutiae of existence, capturing fleeting moments, exploring tensions and establishing rhythmic patterns, This constant engagement with photographic practice explores the notion of awareness, attentiveness to detail, and immersion in the act of looking.

Rather than merely observing, creating images makes me a part of what I photograph. The photographic act itself leads to a heightened awareness, a change of consciousness, a controlling of the breath, even. It simultaneously creates a distance between the photographer and the photographed and generates a closeness which emphasises the sense of connection; drawing on the notion of equivalents (Stieglitz et al), in order to engage in a dialogue with, and beyond, the self. Images are not simply records of where I have been and what I have seen, but visual assessments of my perception of the experience, forming metaphors for my state of being.

The resultant visual narrative investigates the mesmeric qualities of photographic engagement, offering unique and personal insights into moments of heightened perception. The most powerful work generated as a result of this intense engagement with photographic practice encapsulates an awareness and immediacy which evoke my experience  ‘ At the still point of the turning world’. (T.S. Eliot 1935)

Rachel can be contacted at rw@rachelwhitephotography.com