August 17th 2013

Something that’s so magnificent about the ocean is that it’s consistent yet ever-changing. Throughout our whole lives, wherever we are in the world and at whatever age, when we stand at the shore and look out to sea at the distant, perfectly level horizon it’s the same; water and sky as far as the eye can see. When it’s still, it makes us feel safe and calm, when the waves are slashing around it can be exciting and terrifying. For me personally, nothing can compete with the feeling of gazing out at this infinite void of nature.

This new series of seascapes by Bill Peronneau illustrates the epitome of this. Originally shot in 1978 when Bill was just 32 years of age, the images were taken at the seaside town of Cape May in New Jersey where the photographer grew up; America’s oldest seaside resort that’s been visited by Philadelphians and New Yorkers on vacation since the 18th century. The fact that these editions are presented at such a small scale means they need to be viewed at close range; an intimate experience that mirrors the photographer’s relationship with the scenes he’s recording - his mother still a resident, his family have lived here for generations and every year he and his family still meet there during the summer months.

The stunning tonal quality of these works demonstrates Peronneau’s abilities as a photographer. By this time he’d already been working as a photojournalist in Philadelphia for some years and produced the work that he’s probably best recognised for - the portraits of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali taken prior to the famous ‘Rumble In the Jungle’ fight of 1974 (which were in 2005 shown at the National Portrait Gallery in London as part of the touring ‘The World’s Most Photographed’ Exhibition). When he first displayed these seascape images at an exhibition in the late 1970’s they got a fantastic response, and years later when he showed them in London, the Special Photographer’s Company described them as “one of the greatest series’ of seascapes ever made”.

In Peronneau’s capturing of the sheer vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, for me these timeless works provide an amalgamation of everything this beautiful element of our planet represents: beauty, calm, excitement, escape, fear and above all, inspiration.

See the full series here.

Creative Director