Humans on the Marshes

Thames Estuary, England 2011-2018

Wakering Stairs, Deadman’s Point, Egypt Bay and Whalebone Marshes, the Sands of Blyth and Gravesend Reach, London Stone and Cockleshell Beach. 

The Marshes, even the place names, instil a sense of secrecy, history, and mythology. They exist in a liminal space, neither water nor land; there’s beauty and sorrow, darkness and light. The powerful river ever pushing out to the mighty sea, a source of life, exploration, and dreams.

The first photograph I made for this work was on the Hoo Peninsular, Cliffe Marshes; what struck me was the nature, its presence, the tide oozing around my feet, the fumbling of shutters and slides, and the smell of peat, wind, and sea.

I could see an old farm and imagine the lives once lived there; I could see traces from the Wars, a containership connecting London with Europe and the rest of the World.

The Thames has played a significant role in shaping the world. People have harnessed its power and potential for colonial ambitions, global trade and all the tributaries of life and labour along its banks. The work is a study of land, culture, and gender identities amidst echoes of the past along the banks of these historic marshlands.