Jun 7, 20212 min read

Photographic stories: "Jenifer Bunnet - Confluence"

Hi guys,

it's time for a new story from the "Photographic Stories" column. I am happy to host in my column an English photographer that I admire and appreciate very much: Jenifer Bunnet. Her elegant and immersive seascapes are well known and appreciated in landscape photography Her story has moved me and makes me understand how much art, combined with photography and nature, can be decisive in facing the difficult situations of life .

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Enjoy the reading

Thank you Antonio, for inviting me to write about one of my images and my emotional response to its creation.

Although photography has its practical applications for me, it being my profession, its purpose runs deeper than that. I have worked in the photographic industry for much of my life, from the traditional days of processing and printing using film and chemicals, shooting weddings and portraits and all sorts of interesting things! But originally it was art that I loved, and I really wanted to bring that into my photography world. Once I’d embarked on that path, I found a whole new sense of peace and belonging awaited me. As time went on, I found myself wanting to be at the coast more and more, perhaps because the sea had always been an important part of my life, and somehow, specialising in photographing it combined the triptych of my passions; photography, art and sea.

This image, “Confluence”, sums up how I feel about all three. I’d been at this location several days before, and noted the way the water was flowing; it captivated me but the conditions weren't right to make an image. The sun was bright and the spirit was not. But the next time I was there, the sky made my heart miss a beat. It was my favourite kind of cloud, looking as though a giant paintbrush had been swept across it. I fiddled with shutter speeds and watched the water carefully. Then my brain was quiet, it was just me and the elements. If someone had tried to speak to me, I doubt I’d have heard. It’s an almost trance like situation and I think it’s quite rare to find that absolute moment of symbiosis. I worked really hard, watching and moving and shifting my gear all the time, intensely focussed on what was in front of me, but it didn’t feel like work; it was pure bliss and I felt completely at peace.

My life is complicated and I have had to deal with several significant crises. If I’d known years ago what lay ahead, I’m not sure I’d have believed I would cope. A day like the one on which I made this image is restorative. The healing value it brings could not be acquired through any other means, and when I look at the image, I am reminded that despite everything life threw at me, I found my way.