Chloe Dewe Mathews on her 5 12 months challenge to overcome the Thames
"Today I use the Thames as a vehicle to explore contemporary ritual in England," says photographer Chloe Dewe Mathews of her Thames Log photo book. The series published by Loose Joints captures everyday life on the banks of the river and aims to examine people's relationship with water as a “space to think, dream and connect”.
“I became interested in doing a project in the Caspian region called Caspian: The Elements. I would fly to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan or Iran and think about the relationship between people and natural resources such as oil, gas and water, ”explains Dewe Mathews. "Then I would fly back to the UK, where I lived just 100 meters from the Thames. I thought I was doing all this work abroad on our relationship with these natural resources, but actually I was wondering how that relationship would be closer to home looks and how people in England deal with the river. "
Morris Dancing on May 1st morning, May 1st, 2013, 8.15 a.m., Oxford 80 annually 51 ° 45’21.5 ”N 1 ° 15’33.0” W, sunny. All images: Thames Log © Chloe Dewe Mathews 2021, courtesy of Loose Joints
It was also an old photo that gave the photographer the final push for inspiration. “Very early on, when I started digging into the story, I found a photo from 1883. It was a really spectacular photo of some Baptists all dressed in black and then there was only one woman who was baptized in white clothes with a large audience watching. It was such a dramatic scene, ”says Dewe Mathews.
"I remember thinking to myself that it was a shame that things like this no longer happened in the English countryside. That prompted me to investigate what was happening and whether there were minor rituals or acts of communion with the river and whether they were worldly or not worldly. "
Mudlarking, 10/01/2015, 10:00 a.m., Southbank 2 varies 51 ° 30’31.4 ”N 0 ° 06’26.3” W, mostly cloudy
Reading the Sunday Papers, 08/21/2011, 4:00 p.m., Grays 1 varies between 51 ° 28 & # 39; 11.0 ”N 0 ° 19 & # 39; 39.0” E, cloudy
Dewe Mathews worked on the project for five years, capturing everything from the mundane to the eccentric, like the ship seekers in Tilbury, teenagers drinking in Southend-on-Sea, British Hindus celebrating Ganesh's birthday on the riverside, and pagan river rituals in Oxford among others.
"I'm interested in finding people whose lives repeatedly intersect with the river. But maybe you go unnoticed so you don't know these stories too well," explains Dewe Mathews. "So for me it's an opportunity, the narrative and recalibrate or reconsider the public perception of what is happening along the river and update this to some extent. "
Ganesh Visarjan, 09/27/2015, 6.15 p.m., Richmond approx. 95 annually 51 ° 26’55.4 ”N 0 ° 18’21.9” W, fair
Blessing of the river, 01.08.2012, 1.30 p.m., London Bridge approx. 120 annually 51 ° 30’29.1 ”N 0 ° 05’15.3” W, overcast
The photographer describes her style as "conceptual documentation" and it is clear that she lets the colors of the landscape determine the tones and mood in each image. The Thames appear as murky ponds or rippling stretches of water, but it is the contrast between the lush grass banks and tall trees in one picture and the gray city skyline in the next that reminds the viewer of the vastness of the river.
What really brings the images to life, however, are the people in colorful costumes and ceremonial outfits that are peppered throughout the series, highlighting the calm and affinity we have with water.
Ash scattering, 08/23/2015, 9.00 a.m., Southend-on-Sea 5 varies 51 ° 30'53.7 ”N 0 ° 43'17.5” E, sunny sections
The long-term nature of the series meant Dewe Mathews could hop on and off when she had time, but it also allowed her to return to the annual celebrations and get a deeper look at these cyclical activities.
“This time allowed me to go back to certain places and get to know them better than if I had tried to do everything at the same time. That meant I could shoot all year round, whatever the season, ”she says. “I really like projects that slowly accumulate material over time. And then, however many years later, you have this abundance of material to start sculpting and sculpting in the next creative step. "
Ceremonial burning of boats, May 25, 2013, 5 p.m., approx. Oxford 50 annually 51 ° 45’22.1 ”N 1 ° 15’28.6” W, clear, sunny
Girls drink, 08/05/2012, 6.15 p.m., Southend-on-Sea 3 varies 51 ° 31’56.3 ”N 0 ° 42’52.5” E, good
Dewe Mathews wanted the design of the book to reflect the ever-moving flow in some way. As a result, images often bleed onto the next page or are spread across multiple pages using French folded pages. "You get these really beautiful pictures within pictures or moments when you suddenly focus on a different part of the picture that you might not have noticed if you had seen the entire picture," says the photographer. "It was a wonderful opportunity for me to be just as creative in the book design phase as during the shoot."
A perfect blend of British eccentricity and ethereal landscape photography, Thames Log underscores how strong our bond with nature can be. "We have a complicated relationship with our landscape because we are constantly damaging it, almost every action we take," says Dewe Mathews. “But there are also these little actions and moments when people appreciate the landscape and communicate with it. There is also poetry and beauty in it. So I hope (Thames Log) will convey these stories and make us think about these spaces that we should treasure so highly. "
Thames Log by Chloe Dewe Mathews, published by the Loose Joints & Martin Parr Foundation, is available now. chloedewemathews.com