After participating in the inspiring seminar organized by Rock/Body: Performative Interfaces Between the Geologic and the Body I asked some of the participants with knowledge of the area around Penryn where I could possible find ‘live rock’ or ‘wild rock’ nearby, and they suggested the beach in Falmouth, adding that I would not find granite but sandstone, which was fine for me. I thought I could walk down to Falmouth in the evening after the seminar, but the weather was getting worse and the discussions were interesting, so I decided to try in the morning instead. And yes, I easily woke up at six with the light, left my room at seven with a biscuit and some water, my camera and my pale pink poncho and headed towards to shore to see if I could find some rock to pose with. It took me an hour to get to Falmouth, and half an hour more to find the beach and some rocks by the beach. On the way to the beach I noticed there were two trains going up to Penryn, one at 9.30 and the other after 11, which was a little late considering that I should be catching the train to Truro and London at 12.47. But I thought I could take the risk if I found something to really work with. I followed some paths that led me nowhere near rocks so despite the high tide I decided to simply walk on the shore to the end of the beach, where I placed my tripod at the end of the concrete path and sat down on the first ‘wild rock’ on the shore. No time for too many tryouts. And the rock sure was wild enough, very different from the cliffs smoothened by the glacial ice at home.
 

 

 
I sat on the shore for ten minutes and got out of the image in order to have enough of “empty” view to create a slow cross-fade. The drizzle was turning into rain, and the raindrops blurred the image into something foggy, pale and soft. The rain made the decision to return easier, I took the earlier train and had some time for breakfast and farewells. So in the end I made only one image, but perhaps it was enough. Sitting on a rock on the shore is nothing new for me, I have done it in too many works, but the soft whiteness of the rain could have been fascinating, if I would have had enough time to wait for the image to be completely obliterated…
 

 

 

 
And only now, writing this, did I realize I was so focused on rocks that I forgot to record the ocean view, my customary “After Sugimoto” image, although the open sea at Falmouth would have been ideal for that.