I don't doubt that I often make pictures of strange objects - but it's a little bizarre to see one's image turn up in a book like Christopher Salyers' Vending Machines: Coined Consumerism, published by Mark Batty.
Bull Island is a new world, less than 200 years old. Grown from a mere sandback after Captain William Bligh (of the Bounty) made his 1801 proposal to stop the silting of the Liffey by constructing of the Bull Wall, the island is today a UNESCO biosphere reserve - a protected area that by definition is supposed to demonstrate a balanced relationship between man and nature.
This story was first posted as a blog on the Greenpeace Climate blog in August 2009 - while I was on board the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, off the coast of Greenland as part of a four month expedition investigating climate impacts in the Arctic.
There is something unnerving about watching reality bend before
one's eyes. There is what one "knows" to be true, and that which
one can see through a telephoto lens or binoculars - with Fata Morgana,
the two are difficult to reconcile. Something is happening on the
horizon. Icebergs twist and change shape, move, disappear, elongate.
Islands rise from the sea. The earth warps.
I'm very, very pleased. Ecstatic! "Solar Energy Versus Fossil Fuel" has received a "Highly Commended" in the "Changing Climates" category at the 2009 Environmental Photographer of the Year competition.