Quite recently, the extraordinary photographic work of Liam Frankland was brought to our attention. Liam has been photographing The Knolls from the Felixstowe Ferry shore since 2019 and rather than creating a chronicle, has identified something timeless that speaks of diffused light, atmosphere and an abstract simplicity that binds together water, slivers of landscape and sky in single harmonious compositions that just bear enough detail to confirm that this is a place. By Liam’s account, time on the shoreline is time spent waiting for the moment when everything chimes together and becomes a place transcendent, beyond itself and the experience is metaphysical.
Talking to Liam about his preoccupations, although there is an interest in the circumstances beyond the lens that make landscape behaviour what it is, he is most interested in the beauty that is crystallised from nature as an autonomous artwork. There are two ways of looking at an image, one is to look through it as a window to derive information and the other is to look at it as an event-in-itself.
It would be foolish to say that our attraction lies in one realm or another since aesthetic response must be a part of our reaction to place, just as it would also be foolish to say that our experience of beauty is not enriched by information.
minimal fragment – Liam Frankland
For the scientist the crystalline beauty of each of these images is the product of a certain moment in time albeit rendered timeless through selection, manipulation and re-contextualization. It is a challenge to track back to the original place, time and condition to rediscover context. Through the data upon the original file, it is a simple matter to trace it back to a particular moment in time: to recapture cloud cover, state of tide, visibility, the configuration of the knolls to rediscover the moment of suspense when everything fell into place, the shutter was pressed and through a curious alchemy, time stood still.
In our conversation with Liam, we talked about the differences in observation and abstraction that are achieved by scientists and artists, where there might be overlap in approach or thought, or where the departures are. As a scientist, Helene has also been recording The Knolls for many years – using different instruments or data to explore the dynamics of these banks. Much of the time though, it is imagery that she uses to inform her understanding, and in many cases, the imagery is used as data – a resource that can be analysed, measured, systematically examined and compared through time to construct the dynamic movement of the banks. This has included, more recently, the use of a drone to map the position and structure of The Knolls, and in doing so, Helene also achieves a simplicity and abstraction in capturing the presence of these lumps of sediment that emerge each day.
gull knoll – Helene Burningham
For both Liam and Helene, the inherent beauty in nature is best captured from a particular perspective – Helene, from above, remotely – Liam, on the ground, connecting with the banks at eye-level. Science is embedded in Helene’s reading and interpretation of Liam’s images – the question of time, and stage of the tide was raised in our conversation, reflecting Helene’s inherent need to have the context of the coastal system to frame her interpretation and evaluation of the imagery. For Liam, this hadn’t really been a conscious consideration in his art process – his quest is to capture the light and forms. But in doing so, he is unconsciously bringing a specific geography to his photography – arriving at a specific place to achieve a particular light and level with the formations.
As our project progresses, we hope to see this relationship and conversation between art and science evolve – but also we want to better understand how this connection might allow people from all backgrounds and interests to engage with the changing estuary landscape, and think and understand more about what influences this in both time and space.
winter knoll – Liam Frankland
Deben Soundings 