Dunwich Heath

Date: July 2004

Camera: Ebony RSW45
Lens Schneider 120mm Apo Symmar
Exposure: not recorded
Film: Velvia 50

Dunwich Heath is a much-visited site on the Suffolk coast and the only place where the Sandlings heaths reach right to the cliff edge. At its southern-most point, the heath also offers commanding views across the Minsmere valley towards Sizewell, a place made famous as the location of a popular RSPB reserve, but a view arguably ruined by the presence of Sizewell Nuclear Power Station, that dominates the horizon.

In this picture, taken on a near-perfect morning for landscape photography, I concentrated on the patchwork of heather and gorse that carpets the cliff-top. It could be argued that the picture would be improved had I hidden the power station behind the rather more picturesque coastguard cottages. But one of features of the Suffolk coast is the often jarring contrast between the semi-natural environment and alien-seeming structures that have been built there. For me, the presence of the power station adds to the subtle drama of the picture, and gives it an honesty I felt was required.

Dunwich Heath is owned by the National Trust.