Clevedon, Blind Yeo, 16 January 2000

Location

Country: Canada
City: Ottawa
Place: British High Commission

In Jem Southam's photographic diptych the mouth of the river Clevedon is shown at low tide at left, and at high tide at right. Southam is interested in the continually shifting flux of the natural world, and few places change as rapidly over short periods of time as tidal landscapes. The coastline is a constantly moving boundary between land and sea: at times the river's power overwhelms the retreating sea and, at others, the sea swells to inundate the river channel. The cold stillness of the photographs, taken from the top of a hill, disguises the imperceptible change that occurs in the landscape as time passes.

Jem Southam was born in Bristol in 1950. He is one of Britain’s leading photographic artists and was shortlisted for the prestigious Citibank Photography Prize in 2001. He studied at the London College of Printing, and then worked at Bristol’s Arnolfini Gallery from 1976 to 1982. He taught at Falmouth School of Art and is emeritus Professor in the School of Art and Media at Plymouth University, where he taught photography for many years. His work focuses on the landscape of the south and south west of Britain and has been widely exhibited, both in this country and abroad. Major exhibitions include 'Jem Southam: Path to a Picture' at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2006; and 'Jem Southam: From A Distance: An Industrial Landscape in Cornwall' at Tate St Ives in 2004. He lives and works in Devon.

Places

England, Somerset, River Severn

Subjects

topography, seascape/coastal scene, river, beach

Materials & Techniques

diptych, photograph (as object name), C-type photograph

Artist

Jem Southam (1950 - )

Title

Clevedon, Blind Yeo, 16 January 2000

Edition

2/6

Date

2000

Medium

C-type photograph (diptych)

Dimensions

height: 106.00 cm, width: 135.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Hirschl Comtemporary Art, April 2003

Provenance

Hirschl Contemporary Art, London

GAC number

17781/1