The Gathering
Open Edition - From previous visits to the wild, west coast beach of Ruapuke, on New Zealand's North Island, I had discovered that on a low spring tide there's a small group of rocks that house a colony of starfish (Stichaster australis). As the tide retreats the exposed rocks reveal a mass of interlocking tentacles. The late afternoon sun really brought out the intense orange colours of the starfish, but as a result the contours and textures of these unusual creatures seemed lost in these vibrant colours. For this reason I decided to process the image as a black and white version of the scene, which really intensifies the textures and brings real depth to the composition. Printed on Ilford Smooth Cotton Rag 310gsm.