The Shipping Forecast

(Hardback)

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Description

The UK shipping forecast covers the waters of Western Europe and separates them into 31 sea areas encompassing the UK, from Dover to Southeast Iceland to German Bight of which Power photographed all of them, over a period of four years. Each image is captioned with the 0600hr forecast on the day they were taken. This newly edited and revised second edition includes over 100 previously unpublished images. The shipping forecast, of course, exists to save lives. It warns those at sea, or about to put to sea, of approaching storms. But for the majority of us, in Britain at least, its strange, rhythmic language is unashamedly romantic and oddly reassuring, despite forming an image of an island nation perpetually buffeted by wind and waves. It manages to do all this while remaining virtually incomprehensible: the general synopsis at 0 1 00. Low, Southeast Iceland 995 moving slowly southwest, filling 1 00 7 by 0 1 00 tomorrow. Low, Biscay 958, expected Wales 1 00 5 by the same time. Low, Trafalgar 1 00 3, moving slowly east, losing its identity.'

Author Bio

Mark Power (b.1959) studied painting at Brighton Polytechnic but turned to photography soon afterwards. His work has been seen in numerous galleries and museums across the world, and is held in several collections, including the Arts Council of England, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Marrakech Museum of Photography and Visual Art. Power joined Magnum Photos as a Nominee in 2002, and became a full Member in 2007.