Grounded – a year of nature connections on Hollesley Marshes started as a project in January 2020. It began as a piece of work to document a year in the life of Hollesley Marshes. This is an area I walk to every morning with my dog, it is somewhere I have learnt so much about simply by observing the landscape and wildlife on a daily basis.
In March 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic overtook all our lives and my project turned from a straight documentary to one which detailed my connection with the landscape through the constraints of my permitted daily exercise. The images portray fleeting moments captured during a morning walk. They were not pre planned, were shot without a tripod or filters and represent my reaction to a scene at a particular moment in time. They are intended to be viewed as a visual sketchbook of a special place.
The book has a limited run of 100 copies and contains over 80 pages with 51 images detailing the marsh, path, river, fields and creek. The images cover the year between Covid lockdowns from the spring, through to the autumn and are accompanied by text written during or after my walks. Together these words and images combine to create a sense of place and a feeling of what it was like to be on Hollesley Marshes during a particular moment in time.
I hope that my project captures a special place on the Suffolk Coast – one that I feel is overlooked in favour of more iconic locations. To me this is the real Suffolk landscape; an amalgamation of grazing marsh, salt marsh, river and creek which has provided me with some of my most immersive times out in the landscape. I treasure my daily connection with nature in this small corner of Suffolk. It is something that I feel is vital for my wellbeing, it makes me feel alive and helps put everything else into perspective. In a turbulent world this is the place that keeps me grounded and I can’t imagine my life without it.
Comments about Grounded
“Grounded is absolutely beautiful. I sat and read it cover to cover. At times I felt the hairs on the back of my neck and sometimes had tears in my eyes. Thank you for writing – and photographing – such a lovely, beautiful book.”
“A beautiful, beautiful book – it made me cry, in a good way. Thank you so much”
“Such a beautiful book. If you love Suffolk and the natural world then I can’t recommend this highly enough”
“It was a very enjoyable read and so beautifully written that I was immersed and with the visual sketches, I could have been there walking with you.”
“Gill, a fantastic array of images, which with your superb narrative creates mind images and completely immerses the reader with you on your walk! All of which is enhanced by the black and white production.”
If you would like to know more or discuss any aspect of this project then please don’t hesitate to get in touch