As I've noted before, the coast seems to hold a particular allure for photographers, and in that respect Mark Power is no different. But unlike the likes of Martin Parr, Chris Killip, Marketa Luskacova, David Hurn and Jon Pountney, he was uninterested in capturing the sights, sounds and smells of seaside tourism and instead set out with a particular project in view: taking photos in all 31 of the sea areas covered by Radio 4's shipping forecast.
Speaking to the Guardian's Sean O'Hagan to mark the publication of a new expanded edition of the resulting book, he explains: "It was never about creating the definitive photograph of these places, it's just the fleeting impressions that in some way relate to the peculiar fascination of that mysterious voice on the radio."
Sure enough, Power's black-and-white images seem strangely inscrutable - even more so when you read the captions, which are simply the locations and the 6am forecasts on the day the photos were taken. Rather than offering much in the way of context or framing explanation, as captions might be expected to do, they arguably render the images they accompany even more indecipherable.
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