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.