Reflecting on the quickly-assembled video of my rock tracking photos, particularly alongside Ellie Harrison’s Eat 22 video, I thought it would be more effective if I could edit the rocks to align:
I think the visual cohesion of this GIF, when compared with the earlier video, brings a far greater sense of movement to the piece; there is a real sense of the rock physically moving over and through the beach, forging a path for itself, just as other things swirl and move around it. Surprisingly, the patches where the rock remains in one place for a while, such as when it becomes embedded in the sand, are more successful at conveying a sense of movement. The patch of stillness creates almost and ebb and flow as the rock skims quickly over the surface of the beach, but then becomes dragged down, submerging in the sticky sand – the movement feels almost more physical, more relatable.
As with the other experimental GIF, there is definitely room to make this a little neater, either through photographing a little more intentionally, or through editing more carefully. This also opens up possibilities for display – should I create similar GIFs with the other series of photos? And how would these sit alongside, for example, physical documentation?
Anna Harris 