MB Photography | Projects | Ephemeral Pools

Full Stop
Floods of Tears
Arctic Contours #2
Arctic Contours #1
Mountain Blizzard
Gravity Distorted
Surface Chemistry
Darkness Rising #1
Darkness Rising #2
Darkness Rising #3
Flow Distortion #1
Flow Distortion #2
Flow Distortion #3
Forest Blooms
The Beginning of the End
Forest Flora #5
Forest Flora #6
Forest Flora #4
I See Faces #1
I See Faces #2
I See Faces #3
I See Faces #4
Light Waves #1
Light Waves #2
Light Waves #3
Eclipse
Inception Memory
Plasma
Grey Matter
Entry Point
Anxiety
Release
Fishing
Increasing Clarity #1
Increasing Clarity #2
Increasing Clarity #3
Indistinction
Stark Reality
Concentric #1
Concentric #2
Concentric #3
Menacing Presence #3
Menacing Presence #2
Menacing Presence #1
Chaos Rains #1
Chaos Rains #2
Chaos Rains #3
Cerebral
Microcosm
Beholder
Speed of Water
Reverie
Recovery #1
Recovery #2
Recovery #3
Sapling
Nostalgia
Portal
Needles #1
Needles #2
Needles #3
Memories #3
Memories #2
Memories #1
Grass Study
Ghosts of a Machine #1
Ghosts of a Machine #2
Gestation
Pteridophytes #1
Pteridophytes #2
Pteridophytes #3
Stagnation #1
Stagnation #2
Stagnation #3
Aeration #1
Aeration #2
Aeration #3
Ripple Studies #1
Ripple Studies #2
Ripple Studies #3
New Life
Apparition
Escape from the Light
Setting Sun
Light Pool #1
Light Pool #2
Light Pool #3
Negative Spaces
Light Dances
Celestial Bodies
Corona
Sunspots
Origin of Life
Surface Distortions
New Worlds
The Dying Sun
Light Morphing #1
Light Morphing #2
Light Morphing #3
Planetary Phases #1
Planetary Phases #2
Planetary Phases #3
Solar Exploration #5
Solar Exploration #4
Solar Exploration #3
Solar Exploration #2
Solar Exploration #1
A Long Voyage
What Awaits
Grey Day
Sting in the Tail
Thought Processes
Forest Flora #1
Forest Flora #2
Forest Flora #3
No Escape
Progression #1
Progression #2
Progression #3
Against the Tide
Reaching for the Light
Darkest of Days
Swarm
Ripple
Blades
Caught in the Flow
Realm of Birds
Arboreal Portrait #3
Arboreal Portrait #2
Arboreal Portrait #1
Threads of Life #3
Threads of Life #2
Threads of Life #1
Dark Matter
Expanding Universe
Gravitational Fields
Entanglement 1
Entanglement 2
Entanglement 3
Anticipation
The Storm
The Calm Before
Unexpected Shadows
Life on the Edge
Last of the Sun
Manufactured Distortion #1
Manufactured Distortion #2
Manufactured Distortion #3
Bryophyta
Solar
Overarching
On the Surface
Grass Study
Distortion of Time
Dark Embrace
Glimmer of Hope
Forest Serpents
In a Clearing
Searching #3
Searching #2
Searching #1
Weeping
New World
Intersection
Old Friend
Breathing Space
A State of Confusion
Return of Rain
Winter's Lattice
Turbulence
Impressions of Rain 3
Impressions of Rain 2
Impressions of Rain
Relativity
Continuing Gloom
Gentle Breeze
Eyes of the Forest
Oscillation
Hidden in the Depths
Grasses
Phantom Limbs
Phantom Limbs
Phantom Limbs
Fragments
Fragments
Fragments
Three States
Trapped Souls
Moment of Clarity
Among the Tall Trees
Enveloped in Darkness
Transition
Ttowards the Light
Rain Falls
Swaying
Searching for Life
Retina
Moment in Time
Tangled Web of Wood
Grasses
Brooding Monoculture
Brooding Monoculture
Brooding Monoculture
Transient State of Mind
Transient State of Mind
Transient State of Mind
Short Journey
Short Journey
Short Journey
Ephemera
New Darkness

Captured over a period of 3 years in a small patch of forestry near my home, Ephemeral Pools is an exploration of transient views in the landscape.

Most people’s perception of the landscape is one of permanence; views which change little over time, reinforced by the fact that so many of them are returned to and photographed again and again. At first glance the landscape around us is fairly static, but the more you look the more changes you notice. It is this continual change that I am drawn to - whether man made or natural.

There are many long- and medium-term effects on the landscape; such as natural growth, death and decay; man-made development and intervention; changes in the seasons; and daily (or even more frequent) changes in the weather. However, my view of the landscape in this series is changing on a much faster time scale, affected not only by the changing seasons and weather, but also by the levels and often fast movement of the water in the pools which are the subject of these images. Often the views are very transient, both due to the nature of the subject matter and also how I have used it to view the forest within which these images are made. Occasionally the views are so fleeting that they are only present in a single frame and I may not have even registered them fully at the time of capture.

Over the life of the project, as I spent more time in the forest and became more familiar with my surroundings, the nature of my photographic approach changed.  I moved away from the literal and the images evolved to become more abstract.

It is the unpredictability, fleeting existence and potential for abstraction that has attracted me to this place. Capturing moments in the forest that only exist for a very short period of time, and cannot be reproduced, is perhaps my reaction to a genre of photography in which many strive to reproduce views that have already been recorded by other photographers hundreds of times. 

The images in this series are both physical and metaphorical reflections: all are captured in these ephemeral pools of water reflecting the surrounding forest flora, but they also reflect my own ideas, thoughts and feelings at the time they were made. They are perhaps much less about the subject being photographed and more about my own experiences and emotions. 

In addition to the still images in this series I have also produced a number of video works, with original music composed by Zillah Myers.