Folkestone Skies 2020 (Part VI)

 

Folkestone Skies, 2020 (Part V)

 

Folkestone Skies, 2020 (Part IV)

 

Folkestone Skies. 2020 (part III)

 

Folkestone Skies, 2020 (part II)

 

Folkestone Skies, 2020 (part I)

 

Folkestone Skies, 2019

 

Introduction

The photo montages presented in this blog are the result of an art project I conceived in 2019. I dubbed it 'The Edge of the World'. This is not the place to describe that project in detail, but in the process of gathering visual reference for it, this series of sky images has become a project in it's own right. For the purposes of communication I give it a simple, unambiguous title - Folkestone Skies. 

I have taken nearly all the photos from the upper deck of Leas Cliff Hall, occasionally using an alternate location near the Grand hotel depending on my circumstances on the day. The direction varies between SW (at the Hall), and SSE. Apart from location, there is no schedule or plan to the timing of each photo; I only take them whenever I am in the vicinity. This fact does lend a bias to the weather seen in them, since I am generally only out and about when it's not raining, and a rainy photo is usually a very grey photo anyway. Still, there are some where it had been somewhat wet on the day, and the skies have been quite fascinating.  

Equipment is a budget level mobile phone. These days, 'budget' is more than a little disingenuous given the stupidly advanced capabilities of modern phones. 13 Megapixels is the starting resolution of each photo, trimmed and montaged into an A3 dimensioned image at 300 dpi. No photo manipulation is performed, apart from trimming and some rotation adjustment to level out the horizon line. When taking a photo I try and match the white balance to what I see with my own eyes. Roughly a quarter of each image is extracted and placed into a montage, so here is where I exert some aesthetic control, choosing parts that are representative of the whole and that I find pleasing. Montages include date and time stamps for each slice to provide temporal context. 

There is one aspect of these montages that is missing. They were meant to be upside down, but naturally, that is not how people, generally, experience the world. A fuller explanation for this 'upside down' will be forthcoming one day. In the meantime, enjoy these comparative montages, and hopefully they inspire you to look at the sky with a new appraisal.

~Jay

Folkestone, Kent, September 2021

Leas Cliff Hall, upper deck - 227 degrees (SW)  edit to follow - what3words location
The white parapet, near The Grand - 152 degrees, (SSE)