Tessa Bunney / photography / blog

I then returned to Jyväskylä 2 months later and continued to explore my interest in the landscape of the sauna and swimming places around the city. The work from the residency will be exhibited in UK and Finland next year and I am currently working on an artist’s book which will include a short story by Riikka Ala-Harja.

It was not surprising I suppose that during a family holiday in Cornwall last summer, this tidal pool in Mousehole attracted my attention… in particular the incongruous nature of the concrete structure within the natural coastal environment.

Perhaps a hundred or more man-made tidal pools were constructed around the coast of the British Isles.  Heated by the sun, tidal pools were often built to keep bathers safe from high and rough seas so there are a large number in Scotland and around the surf beaches of Cornwall.  Earlier this month I undertook a commission for the Finanical Times Weekend Magazine to continue this project and spent just over a week travelling along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall searching out and photographing another 12 tidal pools culminating in the dramatic Dancing Ledge at Langton Matravers in Dorset. For the first time, my life was ruled by the little yellow book and I met many regulars extolling the virtues of the health benefits and restorative effects of sea swimming along the way!

I’m pleased to let you know that this will be published this Saturday 6th August in The Financial Times Weekend Magazine.