Dear Helford

Dear Helford is a personal body of work created along the Helford River in Cornwall. It is a place that has deeply shaped my life, both above and below the surface.

While I’ve spent many years scuba diving in these waters, this work remains land-based, reflecting on memory, home, and the overlooked magic of a place I’ve come to love deeply. This project is a homage to the river and its surrounding land-scapes, incorporating a mix of water, light, and tranquil moments that evoke nostalgia, familiarity, and the subtle tension between beauty and fragility.

Helford is a unique blend of semi-natural ancient woodlands, intertidal mudflats, and rocky shores. Beneath the surface lie its most vital treasures, its seagrass meadows. Often overlooked, these meadows are crucial in fighting climate change by capturing and locking carbon in their sediment. Their preservation is a collective responsibility.

The Helford River, often overshadowed by more well-known estuaries like the Fal and the Tamar, deserves far more recognition - its beauty is subtle, shy, and bewildering. The river has a rich maritime history, having supported fishing, boat-building, timber export, and trade. It was once a notorious smuggling route in the 18th and 19th centuries. The wide mouth that opens between Rosemullion Head and Nare Point quietly holds its magic, as do the many creeks that branch from it. Among them is the well-known Frenchman’s Creek, made famous by Daphne du Maurier’s novel, but don’t let that fame distract you from the quiet charm of the others, each with its own story, each worth lingering in.

Dear Helford is a tribute to the memories: the walks along its winding coastline, the stillness and the moments of quiet reflection. Helford was part of my many firsts: my first night dives at 11 o’ clock, with frozen fists that I cannot feel, my first sights of squids and seahorses, my first dance with its glowing bioluminescence, my first time seeing a seagrass meadow, and my first walks after moving to Cornwall. These experiences are a part of my journey, they saw me grow and navigate challenges through the most crucial time in my life.

I arrived in Cornwall with so much hope and excitement, which coincided with the beginning of my father’s decline due to Parkinson’s disease. That quiet, painful reality has been a constant shadow throughout my twenties, shaping my experiences in ways I often struggled to express. Helford offered me companionship and the space to grieve the dad I used to know and find moments of peace amidst the ache. But it also saw joy, friendships, shared beers, laughter echoing through the woods, stolen kisses on moonlit walks, and tipsy I love yous. My connection to the Helford is not only about the landscape – it’s about belonging. It’s about the emotional imprint a place can leave when it witnesses your sorrow and joy, a place I will miss dearly.

This work isn’t about chasing dramatic scenes or significant events. It’s a series of photographs that aren’t about grandeur, they are rooted in presence, in how a place seeps into you gently over time. Dear Helford is not just a visual record, it’s a personal letter to a place that has seen me clearly and loved me regardless.