Snow Storm

(Snow Storm – Boat Off a Harbour’s Mouth, J. M. W. Turner, 1842)

amid swathes of stinging snow and drowning wind
the defiant steamboat carves through waters treacherous

the immutable cloth of waves tightens like a noose
a ground laden with every shifting swell of mirrored grey

sky and sea reach towards each other
with the passion of lovers
wrought in anguished battle

they twist violently
clawing to feel the presence of the other
the burning breath of the smoke stack
caught between their writhing bodies

Hiroshi Sugimoto: Atmosphere of the Unknown

Tyrren­ian Sea (© Hiroshi Sugimoto)

An initial contemplation of Hiroshi Sugimoto's seascapes instills a feeling of tranquility; some kind of sigh of relief at escaping the 'chaos' of the modern metropolis, and exchanging it for what seems like the simple serenity of sea and sky. Tranquility, that is, until a second glance allows the unease to settle over you. You stand, on the precipice of the unknown, confronted with the great expanse of fearsome beauty and chilling omniscience.

This is The Sublime. Nature; darkly portrayed in its qualities of vastness and incomprehensible grace. The intellect is overwhelmed - the body is struck with awe, and veneration to the point of fear. The unrelenting horizon; a hard line that resonates with the power of Nature .

The atmosphere that reaches from the page entwines itself around the onlooker - holding them captive for the short time that they stare into the black swathes of water, and never quite letting go.