Handrail at 28 Metres

This is an image of a handrail on the Royal Archer, a shipwreck in the Firth of Forth. This is another of the WW2 wrecks that litter the floor of this busy shipping area and was a steamer that hit a mine laid by an U-boat. This is the deepest dive I have done so far, and at this depth there is no infra-red light, which is why the image looks so green. However, now that can reach these depths it is only a matter of time before I can see the object of all this training, HMS Saucy wich lies at 23 metres but can only be accessed exactly at slack water because of the tidal current.

Comments

what are the creatures living on the handrail?

hi lindsay

i'm impressed with your diving + filming abilities!

what are the critters - they look soft and juicy like anenomes

do you feel spectral presences during your dives ever?

will you make a video work with these images..i am imagining stills that slowly fade into each other ..mebbe its becos right now i am listening to Fennesz "Black Sea" which is dreamlike and watery

doll x

ps is hm saucy 23 miles, or metres, deep - or away from the coastline? i guess its metres

Dead Mans Fingers

hello doll

my filming abilities are slowly getting better and i am trying to take images without a flash because if you use a flash (unless it is for a close-up) the image is obscured by silt or other debris/plancton. however on this particular dive, my hand was otherwise engaged by holding someone else's as i was a wee bit scared i have to admit! this wreck was beautiful however, very dreamlike with structures covereed in DMFingers (see below) slowly emerging out of deep aqua blue. i have not had any spooky experiences yet, but last week after three dives i suffered from a touch of nitrogen narcosis and was 'narced' as it is known. i was seeing a torch in two places at once and streaks of light... next time it happens i'll have to pay more attention to exactly what is happening acoustic wise as well if i can!

Some of the critters are anenome-like things, in particular Dead Man's Fingers which cover most of the reefs in this country. They actually do look like fingers when viewed around a porthole for example. there are some more images on my blog.

i suppose at some point i will consolidate all of this into some kind of work, probably video. some of my 'atmospheric' stills would look great on a large scale eg: http://lindsaybrown.wordpress.com/2009/02/15/vows-reef-in-the-firth-of-f... i'm also interested in myself in the water and the notion of becoming something else whilst in this environment, so tried to do some filming last week... but it is still only 7 degrees centigrade in the water here, a bit too cold yet for any kind of flesh to be exposed to the sea, even just a face.

i've never heard of Fennesz 'Black Sea' so thanks for the link. saucy is no more than 2 miles from the shore and sits at 23 metres deep... i'll let you know how i'm progressing and of course if i uncover any spooky goings on...

Lx

becoming fish

Hiya lindsay

the images on ur blog are beautiful, esp in the context of evoking the colours of the time/lifes, nat geos etc ..

those fingers are dead creepy, and can imagine they'd become even creepier if u got narced amidst them!
but also they are fascinating, like corals...they are one but many -- nature's underwater multitude

"becoming something else whilst in this environment" -- animal, mineral or vegetable? or mythic..archetypal... none of the above...

i love snorkelling and find it's like a meditation and can lose sense of time ..but perhaps scuba diving becos it wd be dangerous to get so mentally immersed, this doesn't happen in the same way

are you making audio recordings? cd be nice to have some sort of water-proof recorder strapped to your heart...to record the sound of you becoming-other in the water

will enjoy swimming in your blogwake

doll x

ps..just saw this article online .. mebbe u also cd use a "mermaid-like monofin"!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/apr/22/sara-cambell-free-div...