Dhow at Sunrise, Watamu Creek. Archival pigment ink Fine Art Print. Open Edition

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The skipper of a small dhow hauls anchor as the sun starts to colour the early morning sky. I took this photograph in the mid-1990s, at the mouth of a creek along the Kenyan coast. Smaller dhows, or mashua as they are known is Swahili, are vessels mostly using for fishing and carrying cargo in coastal waters. For over a thousand years similar boats have plied the coast of East Africa, from Somalia to Mozambique. I shot this image on Fuji Velvia 100 iso slide film back in the early 1990s (read more about the image below).

Open Edition Fine Art Print

Open edition means that there is no fixed limit to the number of prints I will produce. This should not be confused with high volume, mass produced prints that one can buy on the high street or through large online companies. Here, each print is individually produced, generally using far superior materials and printing process. Each print is supplied with a Certificate of Authenticy. This has a thumbnail image of the print, details about the image, the size, paper and inks used, and a print number and print date.

Print Sizes

The print is available in 3 sizes: 30 x 20 cm; 45 x 30 cm and 60 x 40 cm. This is the edge to edge size of the image (rounded to the nearest centimeter or half inch. (Other sizes can me produced, please email me.)

The Paper

The prints are produced on Canson Infinity Baryta 310gsm paper or Iford Gallerie Gold Fibre Silk Baryta 310gsm paper (other papers are available). Baryta papers have revolutionised modern digital-age printing by restoring the level of detail, deep blacks, vivid whites and wide colour range previously only available using traditional darkroom photographic paper. I specifically chose this paper because of its exceptional ability to faithfully replicate colour and vividness, its great longevity and its barium sulphate coating. This aids capture of intricate details and definition in the print, has excellent archival qualities and helps in replicating the look of traditional darkroom prints.

Mounting and Framing

Please note: displayed prices are for unmounted prints. If you would like us to frame your print before delivery please email me (below) to discuss additional framing options.

If preferred, these prints can be supplied framed, ready to hang. A range of frame styles are available, in wood or aluminium, with or without classic window mounts, glazed with glass or PMMA ultra clear acrylic. Please email me directly to discuss options and prices if you would like your picture supplied already framed.

More about this image.

This photography was taken using a Nikon F3 camera and prime lens, arguably the best professional SLR camera of its time, and Fiji Velvia film. Velvia slide film was noted for its fine detail and rich colour reproduction. Some years later I scanned the slide image, using a dedicated Minolta Dimage slide scanner, producing a 42 megapixel digital image. It's important to note that film does not produce the razor-sharp, clean edges of modern digital cameras. On close inspection the film grain is clearly visible. It is, and looks like, a film image, and that is exactly how it is intended be. This look appeals to many (including me) it is the look of that era, but not to all. Having worked with film for many decades, I personally have great fondness for such images, and the 'filmic look'.

In the 1980s and early 90s I spent a fair amount of time in East Africa. On this particular trip I travelled fairly expensively in Northern Kenya. My film rolls travelled inside my backpacked strapped to the top of local buses, alongside me in the back of pickups and trucks, in searing heat along dusty dirt roads. Miraculously, all my film survived undamaged.