ou could say that a river runs
through the latest book by
the photographer Chloe
Dewe Mathews – in more
ways than one. Thames
Log is a series of images made by Dewe
Mathews between 2011 and 2016 – images
that are sequenced in book form in a very
interesting way. The viewer’s journey
starts at the head of the River Thames near
Kemble in Gloucestershire and ends at the
Thames estuary, where the river flows into
the North Sea. But the photographs flow
through the volume by going against thenormal conventions of book form – some
images bleed off the edge of the page, with
the rest of it continuing on the following
page. It’s a clever technique and mimics the
flow of the river itself, from source to sea.
Yet it doesn’t impact on being able to enjoy
the photographs, as the images split over
two pages are used to link the main photos.
Thames Log is Dewe Mathews’ fourth
book, and follows Caspian: the Elements.
But whereas that book examines the
relationship between humans and natural
resources on the shores of the Caspian Sea
between Europe and Asia, Thames Log uses
a river to examine how humans relate to
the landscape, and the part that rituals- religious and otherwise – continue
to play in this relationship.
What was the origin of Thames Log –
how did this work come about?
I started Thames Log in 2011, as a reaction
to Caspian: The Elements, a project I was
working on at the same time. Back then
I was regularly travelling to the Caspian
region, returning to London in between
shoots, staying in the house where I grew
up, only a short walk from the river. During
that period I often looked at the Thames and
found myself reflecting on the relationship
a modern European society like Britain now
has with water. Comparing it to what I had
seen in Central Asia where Sufi rites and
rock shrines are commonplace. I remember
feeling frustrated that we didn’t engage
with our natural surroundings that way any
more. So that was my starting point. As
the project unfolded, I realised I wanted to
focus on overlooked stories – not the more
popularised Thames image of university
rowing races or estuarine relics of an
industrial past. Instead, I became interested
in people’s personal relationships with the
river, and those of small communities
that perform rites along its banks.
It was quite a revelation for me: to
explore a place I’m from, that I’m so
familiar with, through fresh eyes. The
things I eventually came across on my
own doorstep really surpassed anything
I’d anticipated. That was so exciting.You started photographing the series
between 2011 and 2016 – which camera
setup did you use for the project?
I used a Mamiya 7 throughout, with a 65mm
lens and an 80mm lens, so it washttp://www.digitalcameraworld.com MARCH 2021^ DIGITAL CAMERA^135
Y