This is an old image taken back in 1993 with my Pentax 6x7 using Fuiichrome Velvia film. I was walking the beach trying to clear my head and shake a severe case of melancholy, which was brought on by my Mum's passing after her fight with pancreatic cancer. It was a tough time for all of us who loved her, especially my brother and me. She was only sixty three and was the kind of person who lit up a room, and brought joy into those she met. Losing someone that vital, influential and special was a big hit. We all go through this. We all lose people we love...it's part of the realization of life, but the knowledge doesn't diminish the pain or fill the void that those we love leave behind.

When I look at this picture I remember that sadness I had in my heart and how I could feel the balmy air and the smell of the ocean keeping me present. I worked the scene for about an hour. Back then, everything to do with photography was slower...it was nice, it kept you present and your imagination running, never quite sure if you "got the shot".

When I packed up and walked back to my car I found that the melancholy feeling had been replaced with a sense of peace, that, like the waves, continuing their journey upon the shoreline, coming and going, that what I was feeling was part of life. It's the heartfelt ebb and flow that takes us on that constant emotional rollercoaster, that if we're lucky gives us more highs than lows. In the end, hopefully, we learn empathy, compassion and love...maybe the simple truth is that this is the true reason for living...nothing more nothing less. @garethrockliffe #westbeach #beverlyfarms #landscapephotography #soulscapes