The River Test is a chalk stream in the south of England. It has long been managed for salmon and trout fishing and is frequently intersected by weirs and sluices which govern its flow. Enormous volumes of water roar and tumble as the river is funnelled and partly dammed, creating broad and gently flowing reaches leading to roaring wear pools below.
I was a frequent visitor to this river as a child, exploring with my parents over the narrow walkways and bridges as they described how the migratory salmon leap upriver to spawn, the trout and grayling lying along the lazy cool waters under overhanging trees, fish fry and eels visible in the crystal clear shallows. I remember my father diving in and surging downstream with the current. The bridge over the weir pool held a particular fascination; I imagined slipping through the uneven wooden slats and being carried down into the water. The contrast between the mesmerising stillness above and the thunderingly hypnotic waters below held a fascinating horror. I dreamt about it and imagined the outcomes.
So when I visited again to make the Chalk Streams series in 2023/2024 I found myself standing above the same weir pool and gazing down into the blackness. The roiling waters seemed to create in me a form of oblivion, the deafening maelstrom and hectic movement bringing an overwhelming sense of the sublime power of nature as it eradicates the ability to grasp anything but the water and the river. I felt propelled towards it, as if I might be swept in and down into the flow of the tumultuous black waters below.