The ocean baths are normally understood as a collection of familiar things—pool, steps, railings, seawall and ocean.
Long exposure rearranges them.
Water has risen across almost everything in this photograph, dissolving distinctions between the pool and the sea. Starting blocks emerge from the pale surface like small markers while the enormous concrete wall beyond becomes something entirely different: a single dark form stretching across the picture.
A monolith.
The structure was built to separate and contain water, yet the photograph catches a moment when that distinction has become uncertain. The ocean seems to occupy both sides of the wall.
I am interested in that contradiction within ocean pools.
We build permanence at the edge of something that cannot be made permanent.
For the duration of the exposure, the water moved. The concrete waited.
Artwork Information
Artist: Paul Foley
Collection: Intersection
Title: Monolith, Newcastle Ocean Baths #1472
Artwork: #1472
Location: Newcastle Ocean Baths, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Subject: Ocean baths seawall, starting blocks and moving seawater
Medium: Black and white fine art photography
Process: Long exposure photography
Format: Square
Genre: Australian coastal landscape / architectural fine art photography
Themes: Ocean and architecture, permanence, movement, boundaries, minimalism
Edition: Limited edition of 5 prints + up to 2 Artist Proofs
Print: Archival fine art pigment print on cotton rag paper
Certificate: Signed Certificate of Authenticity
This Limited Edition is available in three sizes, with a maximum of five prints plus up to two Artist Proofs.
The ocean baths are normally understood as a collection of familiar things—pool, steps, railings, seawall and ocean.
Long exposure rearranges them.
Water has risen across almost everything in this photograph, dissolving distinctions between the pool and the sea. Starting blocks emerge from the pale surface like small markers while the enormous concrete wall beyond becomes something entirely different: a single dark form stretching across the picture.
A monolith.
The structure was built to separate and contain water, yet the photograph catches a moment when that distinction has become uncertain. The ocean seems to occupy both sides of the wall.
I am interested in that contradiction within ocean pools.
We build permanence at the edge of something that cannot be made permanent.
For the duration of the exposure, the water moved. The concrete waited.
Artwork Information
Artist: Paul Foley
Collection: Intersection
Title: Monolith, Newcastle Ocean Baths #1472
Artwork: #1472
Location: Newcastle Ocean Baths, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Subject: Ocean baths seawall, starting blocks and moving seawater
Medium: Black and white fine art photography
Process: Long exposure photography
Format: Square
Genre: Australian coastal landscape / architectural fine art photography
Themes: Ocean and architecture, permanence, movement, boundaries, minimalism
Edition: Limited edition of 5 prints + up to 2 Artist Proofs
Print: Archival fine art pigment print on cotton rag paper
Certificate: Signed Certificate of Authenticity
This Limited Edition is available in three sizes, with a maximum of five prints plus up to two Artist Proofs.
