THE SHIPPING FORECAST BOOK
C O N C E P T A N D I N S P I R A T I O N S
I wish I could tell you the idea of photographing The Shipping Forecast was mine and original. It isn't. Many have used The Shipping Forecast as a source of inspiration, from painters, poets writers and musicians.
Thirty years ago, Mark Power did exactly what I aim to do, and produced a wonderful book of photographs. It remains one of my favourite possessions. But whereas Mark photographed people and communities it is the sea, the weather and the remote places themselves I focus on.
I've always loved listening to The Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4. It's been the sound track to much of my life.
The idea is to travel to each of the 31 different Sea Areas, from South East Iceland through Dogger and Rockall all the way down to Trafalgar. A book of photographs that celebrates the beauty and solace of the ocean and the wild and wonderful places that surround us.
A D V E N T U R E S A L O N G T H E W A Y
At times it's been epic and exciting. Scary even. And at times it's been dull and disappointing. All in all it's been a far bigger adventure than I imagined at the beginning..
I started with a trip to Iceland..Crazy sea stacks and huge sized chunks of glittering ice washed up on black volcanic beaches lit by the moon.
Next I fancied photographing the iconic Nazare in Portugal ( Sea Area Trafalgar). Famous for those photographs of lunatics surfing the biggest waves in history.
I waited for a huge surf swell forecast an jumped on a plane. It's awesome spectacle. I sometimes wish photos came with a sound track. The noise
At this point I was still keeping the plan to myself. I didn't want to jinx anything. Still, that was two down, only 29 to go..
Onwards. A three week winter road trip in our little camper van around the coasts of Ireland was called for. Sea Areas Fastnet, Shannon, Rockall, Malin and Irish Sea. This was January 2020, and I loved the time alone on wild Irish Headlands in the bleak winter.
A highlight was finding the wonderful Youen Jacob, the only man crazy enough to have a boat in the water in winter on the wild SW Irish Coast, and willing to take me out to photograph The Fastnet Rock Lighthouse at sunrise.
Then along came Covid and not much happened travel wise for a few years. Until in November 2022 I set off on a six week road trip, sleeping in my van, and photographing the spectacular coast of northern Portugal and Spain, up through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Denmark..
That was Sea Areas Finistere, Biscay, German Bight and Fisher done. And combined with various road trip along the South Coast of the UK. I could add .. to list of Sea Areas photographed
A wild ferry journey the ferry operators tried to talk me out of taking to The Isles of Scilly ticked Sea Area Sole off the List too. (I've never seen so many sea sick people as on the Scillonian ferry - it has a flat bottom to navigate the shallow waters of the Scillies and this makes it famously unpleasant in any swell.. and we enjoyed gale force 8..)
This was all fun and great, but I felt something was missing. And in March 2023 I suddenly knew what it was - I needed to do much of the project by boat. I wanted to sail around Britain on my own little yacht. Since I didn't own a sail boat...and summer is my busy time in my gallery in Cowes, and being an artist with a family is sometimes a financial challenge..and of course a wonderful wife who's idea of hell is a small boat at sea.. Well you can imagine were a few obstacles to overcome.
A month later, after a little research and £6,500 poorer, I was the proud owner of a classic 1969 little Contessa 26.
My daughter Rosie (15) helped me get my sea legs sailing with me from Cowes to the Scilly Isles, then back to North Devon. Part of the mission was to be in position to photograph Eddystone Lighthouse at sunrise. Rosie is pictured below after a long night at sea. It's rougher than it looks!
If you are curious about what sailing solo on a small yacht might feel like do please take a look at my YouTube channel "Neil Williams Gallery"..The link is: Neil Williams Gallery - YouTube .
ARTWORK IS NOW AVAILABLE TO VIEW AND BUY HERE: THE SHIPPING FORECAST – neil williams
Work to finish the book continues...