How to Disappear

A fossil, a nineteenth-century panorama, archives, souvenirs, a vanished land: the sea encompasses everything and nothing. Sometimes, things need to disappear completely before they can reappear. In this project, I depict the sea disappearing through images that blur the line between reality and imagination, emphasising the absurdity of human perception. Using photography and editing techniques, I make the imaginary world created around the sea tangible, blurring the line between what’s real and what’s constructed and showing where the land stops and the sea begins. Our seas are represented, or rather misrepresented, in countless ways: romanticised, mystified, mistreated and abused. Yet an idealised notion persists. How is the Doggerland, an underwater land from the past, tied so strongly to the ground we’re standing on now? The images underscore the fact that an unseen, distant place still exerts an influence on our lives, shaping our sociopolitical, cultural and economic landscapes. The human perspective cannot be escaped. However, acknowledging this perspective can trigger interest and understanding, spark conversation and propose a different approach towards non-human life.