Memory sunset
- 📍 Location: Cap Blanc-Nez, Escalles, Côte d’Opale, France
- 📅 Date: 2022
The same obelisk, at the end of the day, with the sun sitting low beside its base. I moved until the disc was exactly at the edge of the stone and closed the aperture down so it broke into a clean star against the silhouette.
Everything is reduced. The monument is black, the path is a pale line running to it, the sky runs from deep violet at the top to a hot orange seam at the horizon. Three elements, nothing else, and the frame is built to keep it that way.
Putting a sun star directly beside a hard vertical is a risk — flare spreads and eats the edge of the shape. I stopped the lens well down and shaded the front element with my hand for the frames where the sun sat highest, which kept the stone clean.
The Channel is right there, a few hundred metres below and out of frame, and on a clear evening you can see the English coast from the top. There is something particular about photographing a memorial to people lost at sea with the sea deliberately left out.
Limited-edition fine-art print from the Skywaven Studios collection, available in several sizes, papers and framing options.
