Returned to Stone

The gorge was only accessible by a short climb I had not fully planned for. I arrived at the top of the rock shelf in the mid-morning, when the light was still low enough to graze the stone at an angle and pull out the texture of every crack and mineral stain. The water beside the ledge was so still it looked like it had been poured and forgotten. She lay down without being asked.

I shot from directly above using a wide-angle to let the full scale of the rock face frame her. The human body against geological time — that was the only brief I gave myself. Her arms crossed over her chest are both modest and monumental, the gesture somewhere between surrender and self-possession. The warm tones of skin and stone against the cold dark water create the only colour contrast the image needs.

Returned to Stone is the aerial anchor of the Figure Study series. It is the image that asked me whether a body can become landscape when you remove its context. Every other image in the series exists in relationship to that question. I have not stopped thinking about it.