Saltburn Mark Snowdon ARPS

PAUL MITCHELL FRPS AWARD

Even without the title I recognised the location straight away, having been there many times and always been rewarded by it, with my own pinhole camera, too! It will come as no surprise to those who know me that I was immediately drawn to the soft, ethereal rendition that this type of camera gives.

The very small pinhole aperture can also result in longer than normal exposure (typically 2-5 seconds) which can soften breaking waves and capture moving people in a subtle blur. I also enjoy the angle Mark has chosen, allowing the pier to point into the scene like a finger of iron. It was rather satisfying to see that Mark had used traditional darkroom methods to produce his print. Immediately recognisable by the thick, slightly wavy baryta paper, where the image seems to be part of the paper rather than just sitting on top.