Sat 24th of December 2022 – Rooswijk

 

About a week ago I was on the overnight ferry to the Netherlands and it was cold and dark and windy.

It reminded me of this exciting job I did almost two years ago. I was asked to photograph items that had been found on the Rooswijk, a Dutch ship that sank in the very cold winter of 1740, about 8 kilometres off the British coast.

The images I shot were then printed in a book written about this ship and the story behind it.

Photographing the objects at the Fort Cumberland site in Portsmouth was a wonderful experience and I also really enjoyed reading the book.

Often my mind still wonders to nearly 240 the people that were on board. Below zero temperatures, a storm. total darkness and your ship sinking. It’s hard to imagine, but the things recovered bring it to life a bit.