In Camera...Ten Year Anniversary of Another Place

July 1st marks the ten year anniversary of Another Place, the artwork by Antony Gormley which consists of 100 iron men situated along Crosby beach, near Liverpool.
I have released two special limited edition prints in a run of 120, one for each month that the figures have been on the beach to mark the event and these are available from the Specials Gallery on my website as well as usual outlets.
The images are 25cm x 16cm, printed on A4 museum grade art paper and supplied unmounted but they will slip straight into an A4 frame. Each is personally signed and numbered by myself and comes complete with a certificate of authenticity.


I have been photographing the iron men of Antony Gormley's Another Place at every opportunity since their installation on Crosby beach in July 2005, endeavouring to capture the spirit and very essence of the sculpture by using the figures as foreground objects against the dramatic weather conditions and skies that are experienced along this part of the coast. Some of the images portray a lonely figure standing firm against the elements, whilst others capture the haunting beauty and silence of twilight on the beach, the iron sculptures being a perfect portrayal of art and nature in harmony.

"Over the years of photographing the iron men I have come to know the beach in all its moods and yet, despite the familiarity, I am still enthused by the scene before me. The landscape is always the same, composed of the elements of sand, sea and sky, the iron men remain fixed in their ceaseless stare out to sea, westward to distant lands and yet it is the motion of these same elements that makes each visit unique.
To stand amongst the figures at dusk or dawn, when the beach is quiet and the light ethereal is a truly unique experience. You belong yet do not belong, you are at peace with yourself and nature, in harmony with the artwork and inspired by the raw beauty of the earth at one of its transitional moments. Sunrise and sunset are those moments in time, when one becomes aware of the movement of the earth through the universe. The sun appears to rise and set against the distant horizon, but we know that it is our planet, spinning through space that creates this illusion. The sun is constant, the centre of our solar system and, by the earth's rotation, merely casting its light on another place.

My favourite time to share the beach with the figures is just after sunset, that magical hour of transposition into darkness. The sea reflects the afterglow and appears almost luminous, the last thing to darken as the light fades from the sky, the blue of day dissolving to green and then to a translucent grey. The sculptures become dark against the water, solid black against the movement of nature all around them. The only sounds are the lapping of the waves and the distant echoing cry of a seabird as it flaps off into the descending darkness.
It seems that, at this moment, even the sea becomes calm and hushed as though in awe of the scene and this is when the iron men reveal their secrets and purpose on the beach, perhaps as their creator intended.

Thanks must go to Antony Gormley for an inspiring ten years on Crosby beach