Shadow Line Developed
How I started to experience the value of flow state
I made this image back in 2011 when I had started regularly visiting Port Mulgrave on the Yorkshire Coast. Back then, it was still easily accessible and it was to become the location for my Mulgrave abstract project over the next 3-4 years. (NB today the path is completely collapsed and access is only permitted via boat).
Up to that point, I had photographed the fishing huts in cloudy conditions. On this particular day, a lot of the clouds cleared out as I was walking down to the beach and it turned into a mixed cloudy blue sky day - not totally ideal when you are shooting a high-contrast film (Velvia, which has 4-5 stops of practical dynamic range). Normally I would avoid direct sunlight in such conditions and try to find some shade. Or shade the composition with my dark cloth if the surface area was small enough. Anyway, I persevered and started to look for compositions amongst the boats that might work. At the time I was looking for compositions which contained abstract shapes including lines and I spotted the potential for an image. A shadow cast over the side of the boat made a pleasing contrasting pattern. Having made that image, it gave me the idea to look for something similar and I spotted a piece of wire hanging off the side of one of the fishing huts that was casting a shadow. I set the main image up and controlled the position of the shadow, juggling three things (the wire, a shield for my lens and the cable release) across two hands. It was a miracle it came out sharp!
The fisherman who owned the hut must have thought I was totally mad pointing a bizarre-looking camera on a tripod at his hut! I had to wait for a few minutes for the sun to come out. Imagine the scene - I am standing holding a cable release, his wire and an empty box of Quickload film to shield the lens and standing still as a statue waiting for the sun! As an aside, he was always lovely when I visited Mulgrave and I was saddened to hear the other week that he had passed.
I went on to make an equally strong image a few minutes later as I then noticed a gleam of light hitting an old broken boat in the shade that I had photographed many times before. I executed the fastest large format 5×4 setup in history and managed to catch it (see alternative image).
It is surprising how often I get these bursts of creativity in the field when I end up making multiple original strong images in quick succession after spending many hours beforehand seeing nothing. I do think it is something to do with getting into what is called a ‘flow state’ and in recent times I have worked on a lot of techniques to get myself into that frame of mind. Back in 2011 it happened infrequently - probably due to the cost of pressing the shutter (typically £10 a sheet!). Today it happens more frequently as I can more easily trigger a flow state by making a couple of images in a place (with the right conditions) in order to get into the zone and then trusting my subconscious instincts to go where I need to photographically. Quite often it is the second or third image that triggers the burst of creativity.
