Following the Lines: A Photo Walk at Sorrento

On 30 May, I took my camera to the back beaches of Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula. Looking through the photographs afterwards, I noticed how often I had moved between an open coastal view and something small enough to fill the frame: a clump of grass, silvery leaves, a fragment of seaweed.

The wider views give the walk its setting. There are pale cliffs, sheltered curves of beach and stretches of dark water. Along the boardwalk, the rails and repeated planks draw lines through the vegetation towards the ocean.

But much of what held my attention was closer to me.

A tuft of grass spreads out across the crunchy sand, its fine blades crossing and bending. Seen against the beach and water, it becomes a shape in its own right.

For a long time, I thought of flowers as my main photographic subject. Increasingly, I find myself drawn to something broader: patterns, structure, repetition and texture. This walk gave me a way to see that interest across very different subjects.

In the silvery coastal foliage, I found soft curves and overlapping leaves. Nearby, a densely branching shrub made a much more intricate picture, its pale stems woven around dark gaps.

Moving from plants to rock felt like following the same thought.

Grasses grew among the weathered surfaces, their fine upright lines crossing the layers beneath them. Then, moving closer, I could leave the surrounding landscape out of the frame altogether.

The rock became a picture of sweeping lines, ridges and small shadows. I like the way this photograph holds both a strong overall movement and so much detail within it. My eye follows the curves, then slows down over the rough surface.

On the sand, a small piece of dark seaweed offered another kind of structure. Its rounded forms were distinct against the fine grains beneath it - a simple arrangement after the complexity of the rock and shrubs.

At the water’s edge, the view opened out again. Scattered seaweed, wet sand and a thin line of foam brought those smaller observations back into the wider beach.

These photographs help me understand what connects my botanical work to the things I notice while walking. The subject changes, but my attention keeps returning to the way forms repeat, branch, overlap and catch the light.

Flowers are still part of that. So are grasses, weathered rock and things washed ashore.