ENTRY DESCRIPTION
I stand knee deep in the water.
There is frost on the hillsides; there are storm clouds smothering the horizon.
My tripod is anchored in the water, dug deep into the sand.
Photography isn’t just an art. There is a physicality to it.
I stand and I wait. There is a 20 kilo bag on my back, loaded with lenses, filters, memory cards. I know that if the tide comes in further, and the perfect shot hasn’t presented itself, I will have to wade back with my camera held above my head, like the Olympic Torch.
This is not unusual.
My legs are numb, a spasm ripples down my back.
A fishing trawler cuts through the water, bringing home its catch.
Everything is still; everything is in motion.
This is Devotion.
There is a relentless energy to the sea pitted against an unchanging stillness. Devotion began as a project, a way to step outside the familiar, to see what surrounds us and yet is unwitnessed.
This reality is not captured without sacrifice. The world is not made without hard labour; nor will it change freely.
I breathe deep.
My family waits for me on the distant shore, eating chips.
I am alone. Hidden. Half out to sea.
Photography cannot be defined neatly, mine no more than any other. I capture a moment in motion, a second of stillness.

AUTHOR
My name is Paul Carruthers I am a professional photographer based in Devon. I picked up a camera thirty years ago after a serious injury.
I first used the images to enhance my graphic design but soon realised people where not talking about my graphic design so much they where talking about my photos held within the graphic design. So I decided to focus solely on my photography, reading and learning as much as I could. I was approached by a gallery in the Bluecoat Chambers about twenty years ago in Liverpool to sell my photography and the rest as they say is history.

I have gone on to win British Life Photographer of The Year and UK’s no.1 street photographer amongst other amazing awards I still can’t believe.

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