32 27 July 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
Photo Insight
On a trip to southern Europe, Charlie
Waite fi nds himself doing battle with
this iconic limestone monolith, as
Ailsa McWhinnie discovers
Charlie Waite
Charlie Waite is one of the UK’s best-known landscape
photographers. He has published numerous books, tutored
aspiring photographers from across the world, and is founder
of the Take a View Landscape Photographer of the Year
competition. His latest ebook, Behind the Photograph, can
be bought and downloaded at http://www.charliewaite.com.To w a r d s
the Rock of
Gibraltar
© CHARLIE WAITEBy Charlie Waite
A
t 426m high, the
Rock of Gibraltar
dominates the tiny
British overseas
territory of Gibraltar on the
southwestern tip of Europe.
More than 300 years ago,
thanks to the treaty of Utrecht,
it was handed to Britain
by Spain – and for such a
small area, it has remained
a political hotspot ever since.
With branches of Marks and
Spencer, Morrisons, Next and
Debenhams, its high streets
feel as British as its residents,
but of the 20,172 residents
who voted in the 2016 EU
referendum, a colossal
19,322 voted to remain.
Although it dominates the
view from almost everywhere
in the area, the iconic Rock
of Gibraltar is surprisingly
diffi cult to photograph well.
All around its base are pretty
unsightly modern blocks of
offi ces and fl ats, and roads
packed with cars. ‘I’ve always
struggled with it,’ says
landscape photographer
Charlie Waite. He found
himself in this strangely
fascinating part of the world
once again earlier this year.
‘Every so often I spend four or
fi ve days in Andalucia,’ he says.
‘As you head west towards
Cadiz, it becomes pretty
interesting and chaotic,
and the almond blossom
in the middle of February
is a full-on hit of spring.’Finding the picture
On this occasion, he took
a stroll along what he describes
as ‘the fabulously empty
beaches’, choosing to walk
away from the Rock, rather
than towards it. ‘From a
distance, it’s as if the rock
becomes even more formidable,
even though it’s in the
background,’ he says. ‘It looked
good, but I didn’t really know
what to do with it. There were
components that worked, and
then I realised it was about
being jagged. It’s not a very
friendly rock.’
Knowing he wanted to retain
this sense of dominance yet
distance, it was then a question‘You just don’t see orange walls like this in
the UK. It was bizarre and a bit surreal. I
spent about two hours thinking about how
to get that wall to hook up with the Rock’
of fi nding a foreground
that would work with the
background. As is so often the
case, once you really start
looking, something presents
itself. So it was that Charlie
came across a bright orange
wall that immediately grabbed
his attention. ‘You just don’t see
orange walls like this in the
UK. It was bizarre and a bit
surreal, and I spent about two
hours thinking about how toget that wall to hook up with
the Rock of Gibraltar.’
It was at this point that
the steps in the lower right-
hand corner of the frame
took on a particular
signifi cance. ‘I realised they
seemed to work,’ Charlie
recalls. ‘You step up once, and
then there’s another one.’
Admitting that the sky wasn’t
‘wow’, he knew the composition
needed something extra that