Iron Men Sculptures, Another Place, Crosby, UK

A few miles up the coast from Liverpool is Another Place – an art installation by Antony Gormley consisting of 100 life-size statues facing out to sea. These iron men face a daily battle against wind and sea, succumbing to each incoming tide.

In the artists words: “Another Place harnesses the ebb and flow of the tide to explore man’s relationship with nature. The seaside is a good place to do this. Here time is tested by tide, architecture by the elements and the prevalence of sky seems to question the earth’s substance. In this work human life is tested against planetary time. This sculpture exposes to light and time the nakedness of a particular and peculiar body. It is no hero, no ideal, just the industrially reproduced body of a middle-aged man trying to remain standing and trying to breathe, facing a horizon busy with ships moving materials and manufactured things around the planet.”

I wanted to express this idea of movement with some long exposure photography. To achieve this I used a neutral density filter that blocks out light and forces the shutter to remain open for longer. Combined with a remote release, the above image was taken with an exposure of 7 seconds – smoothing out the incoming waves and giving the water a glassy appearance.

See more images of Antony Gormley sculptures at Itchy Feet Photography.

Equipment

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 28-70mm
Manfrotto 441 Carbon Fibre Tripod
Hahnel GigaT Pro II Wireless Remote Control
Hoya ND400 Neutral Density (ND) Filter
ND Exposure Chart
Tide Times

10 Tips for Photographing Bluebells

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The Photographers Ephemeris

I always carry a small compass in my camera bag to help judge where the sun will rise/set when out on location. A fantastic free download that works with Google Maps now means that I can plan shoots in advance, from the comfort of home! Tap in a place name or postcode and The Photographers Ephemeris will show you how light falls on the land for any given date and time. It also available as a mobile App for iPhone and Android, perfect for outdoor photographers preparing that next landscape or urban shoot.

The Bridge of Sighs in Oxford (also known as Hertford Bridge) is much photographed but often in shade. Using The Photographers Ephemeris, I was able to see that the bridge and Sheldonian Theatre would both be illuminated by the light of early morning, shortly after sunrise. Happily this meant the buildings were beautifully lit and streets peacefully quiet. It also gave me an excuse for a second breakfast of pain au chocolat when the shops opened!