About

See our local landscape from a different perspective in an exhibition of black and white photographs of Essex salt marshes by Essex based artist and photographer, Rachel Spender.

Taken using film cameras from a small aeroplane and hand printed in a traditional darkroom, the aerial photographs focus on the sculptural and textural qualities of the marshes – with the intention of highlighting the beauty of the landscape and our responsibility to look after it.

“The textures, patterns and sculptural formations are caused by the effects of tides on shingle bank and saltmarsh – the natural breakdown of crustaceans and seashells- and what happens when fresh water meets saltwater, and when humans, across the ages, have interrupted this natural flow of events.

All is revealed at low water, when the tide is right out, and in the low winter sun which casts long, sharp shadows.”

– Rachel Spender, 2020.