Mark Power - photography, it never tells us everything.

The photograph I bought from Mark Power to help support the publication of a bookwork celebrating 21 years of photography at the University of Brighton arrived this morning.

South-East Iceland, Tuesday 20th August 1996 is a magnificent work and what's more a stunning object as well. Mark tells the story of the photograph, handwritten on its reverse.

We took our yellow VW camper to Iceland during the summer of 1996. It was nearing the end of The Shipping Forecast but still had a few far-flung sea areas to visit. We took a ferry from Aberdeen to the Shetland before moving on, after a few days, to the Faroe Islands. It was Jo's 30th birthday when we finally reached the Icelandic port of Seyðisfjörður, and to celebrate we treated ourselves to a real smorgasbord, consisting of far too much pickled herring for my liking. 

This picture was taken on the way back to Seyðisfjörður after a wonderful two weeks. It's a strange image of an odd situation that I don't understand myself. Even the contact sheet offers no clues as to what happened before of after.

But that's one of the things I love about photography - it never tells us everything.

The Shipping Forecast in my view is one of Mark Power's most memorable and compelling series.
Mark says this: Intangible and mysterious, familiar yet obscure, the shipping forecast is broadcast four times daily on BBC Radio 4. For those at, or about to put to sea, the forecast may mean the difference between life and death.
But for millions of landlubbing radio listeners it is more than this; the enigmatic language of the forecast has entered the public consciousness, creating a landscape of the imagination and confirming romantic notions of Britain's island status.
Captioned by the 0600hrs forecast on the day they were taken, these photographs attempt to challenge our assumptions of these far-flung places.

There is much more to see on Mark's website HERE.

The University of Brighton's commemorative bookworks are now available for purchase.
You can find out more and purchase HERE. 

Students and staff have produced two beautiful publications celebrating 21 years of BA (Hons) Photography at the University of Brighton. Entitled '9213', the books are paired together in a foiled slipcase; One features the work of this year's graduates, while the other highlights 36 alumni who have made a significant contribution to photography over the past two decades. Limited to just 300 hand-numbered copies.