Four Winters

Over the past four winters, the English artist Jem Southam has repeatedly visited a short stretch of the riverbank on the floodplain of the River Exe. He stands and observes, as dusk fades into darkness or dawn light rises, the different passage of each winter. In the evening, well after sunset, swans, geese and ducks arrive on the river to spend the night in safety. In the morning, the birds wake up, groom, feed and meet to prepare for the new day.

These periods of subtle drama have been going on without interruption for millennia, as the world turns and each new day dawns, the spectacle repeats itself. However, it is infinitely varied, and in the photographs in this book, Jem Southam records and narrates the subtle changes and dramas of the theatrical space around him.