River Time

Rivers are a metaphor for the flow of time. The movement of the river stands in contrast to the stillness of the landscape and gives rise to contemplations on the juxtaposition of change and permanence. Our individual lives drift through a landscape of reliability and routine. Yet things change.

This work is reflecting on the nature of time, the essential changeability and limitation of our lifetimes. Looking at the ever-shifting water as it moves and shapes the land it touches, the images portray time spent by the water, lingering in the landscape.

Some images are created using the panorama function on an iPhone, where the process of taking the picture takes up to several minutes. The resulting images depict less the likeness of a landscape but aim to visualise the time looking at the flow of the water.

Some images portray smaller, shorter moments, inviting the viewer to take time gazing closer into the water, the river, time.

This work is echoing some of William Wordsworth’s more transcendental musings on temporality and eternity contemplating the river Dudden trickling, flowing, rolling through the valley and on into the sea.