Oregon Coast And English Coast Series
Limited Print Release 2004

Distance is relative. These days I live 20 miles west of Portland, Oregon, towards the Pacific coast, some 70 miles away. This is 'On the water' to many people living hundreds and even thousands of miles from any coast, but 'inland' to me. I was born about 3 miles form the coast, in Dorset, southern England. As a child I was able to walk to the sea with barely any interaction with housing or cars. I could hang about all day, there to play, yes, but also to breathe and listen and look and wonder. I am still scared of the sea.

The Oregon coast is very different from the Dorset coast, and a little alien to me - but it is the sea-side, with excellent beaches, and cliffs, and that relentless noise. It's a picturesque coast that is constantly being photographed for calendars and adverts, photographers wait like cormorants on the cliffs for a scandalous scarlet sunset framed by rugged black rock outcrops. It is romantic.

I am trying to communicate with pictures things that are shifting experiences. Experiences that are a muddle of vision with sound and smell mixed into little memories. There's more you see. More to see. So I may continue this experiment for a good while, as long as I can keep saying, 'Hey! Come see this.'

Call : 503 866 5924 (USA)
photography@zaphmann.com