The Face of Poseidon - Storm Eunice

 THE PHOTOGRAPH

I took this from the Newhaven Beach at the height of Storm Eunice. It’s a great place to photograph the sea in a storm and so, with my daughter Rosie for company, we jumped on the 5am ferry and drove down the coast. When high tide and the crazy winds combined with enough sunlight breaking through, it was time to edge as close to the action as I dared, and start snapping away..

When it's that wild, you set the camera settings once, hope you've got it right, and just shoot hundreds.. hoping later to find a few diamonds amongst the many blurry messes..

But when I retreated to the van, soaked to the skin, shivering, I found the camera hadn't been firing.. Noooo...I'd taken 11 shots, all rubbish.. I couldn't figure it out.. autofocus issues maybe...

The second attempt was worse. I couldn't stand properly, so again I half crawled down the shingle beach..and then Wow.. the sun broke through and the world exploded into a crazy beautiful chaos of light and noise and sea and light.. I was so excited firing shot after shot, trying to shelter the camera as well as I could from the salt spray whipping past me.. and then I looked at my camera.. nothing.. it was dead.. the sea had killed it.

I was gutted as I changed into dry clothes and we drove to Brighton to find a cafe to warm up. I thought I had nothing. We put the film into the laptop and found the camera had managed 3 photos before dieing, and this was the last one.. Poseidon (the God of the seas and of storms) takes and sometimes Poseidon gives...

HOW WE MAKE THE PICTURE

We build everything ourselves in the gallery. The photograph is printed on the very best archival matte canvas, hand coated in a matte varnish we import from America, and then left flat to dry for a few days. This means the picture can be cleaned with a damp cloth, and the great thing about a matte finish with no glass is that you have no distracting glare or reflections. It's a much more direct experience.

Whilst the print is drying we can get on with making the stretcher frame and the tray frame that the finished canvas will drop into. The tray frame is then hand painted.

Next the canvas is stretched over the stretcher frame. After that, we carefully paint the canvas edges with several coats of the same paint used on the tray frame, so they match perfectly. Then we assemble the canvas and frame, put a hanging wire on the back, and attach a Certificate of Authenticity. Finally Neil signs the piece front and back adding the title and edition number.

We use the very best materials, and I would expect my pictures to look exactly the same in 100 years. They won't fade in our lifetime. 

BUYING OPTIONS

This picture is available as a framed stretched canvas, and comes in two sizes as detailed below. A shipping charge of £35 is added at checkout.

Large Stretched Canvas Framed in a White Tray Frame: £495

Limited Edition of 150

Framed Size 133cm by 60cm (canvas 1254cm by 52cm)

XL Stretched Canvas Framed in White Tray Frame: £750

Limited Edition of 90

Framed Size is 183cm by 80cm  (canvas size is 175cm by 72cm).

Canvases can be rolled and shipped abroad unframed. Please get in touch for a quote.

Feel free to call Neil on 07957 473693 with any more questions, or email us at neil@neilwilliams.co.uk