Beneath the Surface: Norfolk Broads

"Beneath the Surface: Norfolk Broads No. 1" 2017

Watching the undulating waters ripple into the reeds as we boated upon the Norfolk Broads in East Anglia this summer put me into a meditative state. The smooth, calm waters where punctuated with Lilly pads and the occasional swan. But what fascinated me was its vast surface mirroring the dramatic sky above. Like a watercolor before my eyes, the quickly changing weather of England in late summer went from blue skies filled with billowing clouds to dark and stormy during our 3 hour tour.

Like watching the clouds in the sky, I obsereved their distorted shapes float by as we slowly boated down the Waveney river and curiously thought about what was hiding in the thicket. This 12th century man made waterway was cultivated for its fossil fuel peat. Over subsequent centuries the channels that were dug out were flooded and became  what is now known as the Norkfolk Broads. The 120 miles of rivers and lakes (known as broads) are the UK's largest protected wetland. I have enjoyed many journeys on this picturesque marsh and still marvel at the windmills occasionally dotting the landscape and thatched cottages lining the rivers edge.

In this newest image I tried to create a portrait of the countless men and woman who have spent time on this waterway, their long departed reflections caught for a moment in the shadows where the water meets the reeds...

From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads,

Julie Green
November 18, 2017