SNEAK PREVIEW

TRANSCENDENTAL TRANQUILITY

Dirk UKIYO
IN BETWEEN >LAND AND SEA<

roseport

Dirk roseport TRANSCENDENTAL TRANQUILITY UKIYO IN BETWEEN >LAND AND SEA<

Dirk roseport

TRANSCENDENTAL TRANQUILITY
UKIYO

IN BETWEEN >LAND AND SEA<



07:37

20:24



“Taking
everything superfluous out
is the basis of superior design
in my opinion,
and it returns me to that
simpler state in myself.
So I strip the creative process
back to the three elements;
water, horizon, sky.”



06:00









St Leonards-on-Sea is one of the places where I I took this shot at 5 a.m. in 2016, during a photo Balcony, table, and cup. An early morning My wife, Hilde – mother to our two daughters
love to work. shoot in Hastings. It is shot through the window Polaroid view over the English Channel, and stepmother to my son, business partner,
The insanely beautiful building on the left is the – which is architecturally characteristic of the La Manche, or Het Kanaal. assistant on shoots, greatest supporter and
Marine Court Building, a Grade II listed Stream- building– of an apartment inhabited by a London helper, with endless patience – enjoying a brief
line Modern (Art Deco) apartment block on the jewelry designer. This photo is part of my Fading Memories project, in moment between shots.
seafront of St Leonards. which I try to visualize the feeling of memories that
What you see is the Hastings Pier. fade away. Of losing the details.
The block was built between 1936 and 1938 and was The first version was built in 1872 by Eugenius Birch. The images then take on a dreamlike, surreal
modelled on the recently launched Cunard Ocean He also designed, among other things, Eastbourne atmosphere. All that once was sharp, crisp, and vivid
liner Queen Mary. Pier and Brighton Pier. in our minds gets blurred.
Its bright white exterior stands majestically, and I think Unfortunately, piers have a real weakness for fire: the Shapes and colors disappear. No matter how hard
also somewhat deservedly arrogantly, along the Brighton (+2003), Eastbourne (+2014), and Hastings we fight. Bits and pieces are gone to never come
seafront promenade. (+2010) piers were all destroyed by fire. back.
In 2015, we rented a studio there for a few days as However, if you want to see a pier with vision that was But even the most fragile memory can bring back the
a home base for a series of shoots in the area and, then given a contemporary design, this is the one. whole story. And most of the time, we will remember
believe me, it’s not just on the outside that makes you No sticky smell of cotton candy, sounds of pinball that which has faded with more fondness – whether
feel like you’re on an ocean steamer. machines chirping, or glaring neon lights here. The it was tough or hard, softer – than when we originally
The huge room in front, where people used to dance design won the 2017 Stirling Prize for Architecture. lived it. It’s what we do. It’s how we survive.
and party, now houses a pitiful furniture shop with On the pier today is a wooden amphitheater-like In Fading Memories, I know the story behind the
pale-colored, heavy leather seats. What happens in structure with an equally small and congenial bar on image. The place. The time. The people. The viewer
the big hall above – once a two-story restaurant – is a top - from which you have a lovely view of does not.
well-kept mystery. Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea in pleasant Thanks to what they don’t see, the images evoke
In the gallery along the boulevard, a few shops and weather; you can even spot Eastbourne on an even more open stories than the ones I know. More
restaurants are fighting a grudging battle for survival, especially clear day. open stories than they would do if the images were
but the residents of the apartments intact. So the mind creates its own story.
above – now mostly wealthier Londoners – would
rather see them disappear.

16:41

10:02

08:35





05:29



>liannbdeatnwdeseena<

“The feeling of standing alone at sunrise or late at night, or in fact at any
time of the day, with only the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, is
indescribable. The immensity of the water mass in front of you. That feeling

of vulnerability. How small you are in the face of the forces of nature.
It makes you humble.

It almost makes you forget that behind you, and right under your feet, on
the piece of land you are standing on, there is also an immense and equally

impressive beauty going on.
One that, like the mass of water in front of you, changes with every second.

What is, is immediately gone and different again.
Cliffs, dunes, rock formations, beaches. For millions of years, they have been
under the relentless assault of storm winds, waves, rain, erosion, frost.
While you stand with the camera between land and sea, you see erosion doing

its work, you hear pieces of limestone breaking off.

Nature cuts and moulds its own impressive sculptures.

It led me to a new, organically growing body of work:

“in between >land and sea”,

in which I photograph the raw, crushing power and splendour of cliffs, dunes
and man-made structures ravaged by wind, rain, erosion and tides.”

15:40



22:19



DIRK ROSEPORT

[email protected]
www.dirkroseport.com

Published by Omega Communication Partners
Photography: Dirk Roseport
Text: Kim Poorters/Dirk Roseport/Sarah J LLoyd
Printing & book binding: De Boekbinder

©2022 Dirk Roseport/Omega Communication Partners

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any
form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, recording,
photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written
permission from the author or the publisher.



Dirk This hand-sewn artist’s book is published in a maximum of
60 copies, numbered and signed by the artist.

roseportTRANSCENDENTAL TRANQUILITY
UKIYO
IN BETWEEN >LAND AND SEA<