Location

Country: Germany
City: Berlin
Place: British Embassy

This picture of the coastal village of Staithe in Norfolk, is from a series of six photographs entitled 'All Yesterday's and Today's', taken of locations in the east of England by the Norfolk-based photographer Mark Edwards. He presents us with an empty and expansive landscape, encouraging our eyes to move rhythmically across, and further into, the picture's composition. Edwards sourced the locations for each photograph by looking at an Ordnance Survey map and pinpointing places of interest. He visited each chosen location at different times of year, becoming accustomed to the landscape and its seasonal changes. The photographs were taken using a large-format camera, a tripod and a stepladder, referencing the pioneering landscape photography of the nineteenth century. This time-consuming process is evident in the distinct lack of action in the photographs, taken in soft, even light and empty of human characters. The high viewpoints make us feel as though we are somehow not imposing ourselves on the landscape.

Mark Edwards was born in 1965. He studied for a postgraduate diploma in photography at De Montfort University in 1997 and the following year continued on at the University to study for an MA. Recent exhibitions have included 'Kettle's Yard Open' at Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, in 2002, and 'Traces and Elements' at the Bend in the River Gallery, Gainsborough, in 1996.

Places

England, Norfolk

Subjects

topography, landscape C21st, grass, tree, evening, heath

Materials & Techniques

aluminium, photograph (as object name), colour photograph

Artist

Mark Edwards (1965 - )

Title

Staithe (evening), Norfolk

Date

2002

Medium

Colour photograph mounted on aluminium

Acquisition

Joint commission by GAC, Commissions East and the Government Office for the East of England (GO-East) for the GO-East offices, Cambridge, September 2002

Provenance

the artist (commission)

GAC number

17809