LIVING ON
THE EDGE

The place where
timelessness ceases to exist

Living on the Edge is a journey along the Alabaster coast recorded as a photo diary over the course of two years. This project is also a metaphorical take on the current state of our planet and our behaviours.

Half a doorframe of a WW2 German bunker on the cliff edge overlooking the sea. A storm approaches in the background with dramatic sun rays piercing through the clouds.

Remnants of a Bunker Doorframe on the Cliff Edge. La Chapelle Saint-Léger, Saint-Valery-en-Caux, 2021.

It started as a search for remnants of WW2 bunkers. It turned out to be so much more.

The Alabaster Coast is one of the quickest changing landscapes in France.

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Jamy Gourmaud, Le Monde de Jamy, Montée des eaux : comment sauver nos plages ? France 3 https://www.france.tv/france-3/le-monde-de-jamy/3533116-montee-des-eaux-comment-sauver-nos-plages.html

A closed steel door with a red spraypainted message on it that says “You are not the center of the universe” in French.

“You are not the center of the universe”. Sassetot-le-Mauconduit, 2021.

A panoramic view of the sloping outline of a bunker on a cliff edge above the sea. A man sits on top of it posing for his daughter’s photo. The sky is a soft grey. Long grasses cover the bunker.

Man Posing on Bunker. Cap Fagnet, Fécamp, 2020.

A man impressing his girlfriend by hanging off the side of a bunker. On it there is a stencil of a child falling off a swing. In the background a misty scenic view of the Alabaster coast.

Swing. Cap Fagnet, Fécamp, 2021.

The Alabaster Coast is named after the milky-white colour the sea takes when it dissolves the chalk cliffs. It covers 120km from Le Tréport to Le Havre and measures between 30 and 120 metres high.

A video surveillance camera perched on the edge of a cliff with metal barriers around it. A fine layer of top soil with grass separates the cliff from the grey atmospheric sky with low hanging clouds.

Video Surveillance Camera. Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer, 2020.

2 men are on their smartphones. One has his back turned and the other is side on. They are in the shadow of a cliff, standing next to a warning sign of cliff falls.

Men on Smartphones. Les Petites-Dalles, 2020.

A man is highlighted standing on a bunker on the cliff edge on his smartphone. His neck is curved downwards. There is a path in the grass and the shape of the bunker resembles a gangplank.

Text Neck. Criel-sur-Mer, 2022.

A bunker on a cliff edge with a warning sign is precariously positioned above an eldery couple sitting on a rock gazing out to sea. Two seagulls are sitting in an empty plant pot on top of the bunker. There is a big crack in the cliff.

Couples. Fécamp, 2021.

Erosion is an inevitable natural phenomenon that has always existed. Global warming and rising sea levels may make it worse.

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Stéphane Costa, professor and researcher, Caen University

A low angle B&W photo of an abandoned house on the edge of a cliff. A starling murmuration flies over the house. The sky has grey clouds. A single seagull sits on top of the house.

Starlings above Abandoned Cabanon. Quiberville-sur-Mer, 2020.

Living on the Edge has helped me express my eco-anxiety.

A view of an inaccessible beach in a small valley with cliffs on both sides. A broken piece of ladder on the beach is pummeled by the waves. Green and orange ropes serve as makeshift handrails.

Broken Ladder. Le Val, 2021.

A view towards the Bay of Somme from the cliff tops. There is a bouquet of flowers on the cliff edge in memory of a person. Further up a couple is standing looking out to sea and another is walking past. The man has his arms raised.

Flower Bouquet. Mers-les-Bains, 2022.

If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.

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Dave Goulsan, A Buzz in the Meadow: the Natural History of a French Farm

Remnants of a WW2 German concrete road on the cliff edge. It is overhanging the sea from high up. Grasses are sprouting between the slabs. A monoculture field is next to it.

The German Road. Quiberville-sur-Mer, 2021.

A B&W bird’s-eye view of a bunker on the edge of the cliff. Grassy cliff slopes are to its side. Below, the sea with its crashing waves and pebbles.

Bunker on the Edge. Veulettes-sur-Mer, 2021.

A road is crumbling away into the sea from the cliff top. Its surface is missing parts of asphalt. Down below, the shadow of the cliff mirrors the jagged edge of the crumbling road.

Missing Road and Houses. Criel-sur-Mer, 2022.

A B&W view of a cracked bunker perched on the cliff edge. Inside through the doorway there is a ray of light. Patches of snow are on the grass. In the background a hazy sea.

Bunker on the Edge. Phare de la Poterie-Cap d’Antifer, 2021.

The point is that we cannot sit back. It’s never too late. The sooner we act, the more we save.

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Neel Dhanesha

A B&W landscape photo with a panoramic view of 3 men on electric scooters following each other on a grass path next to the cliff edge. Clouds can be seen below the edge, it is a cloud inversion.

Triptych Above the Clouds. Cap Fagnet, Fécamp 2021.

Nature and its beauty have been key players in the journey.

A portrait photo of a man standing on an outdoor terrace overlooking a road with a sloping cliff in the background. He is gesticulating at someone. Behind him there is a big villa with a missing roof.

André. Bruneval, 2021.

In the foreground a person in a wheelchair is holding hands with a woman and a man is pushing him. In the background, four people are on the top of a cliff. One of them is kneeling dangerously close to the edge.

Scope. Les Petites-Dalles, 2022.

A B&W landscape panoramic view of a family at the water’s edge. A father and son are throwing pebbles into the sea, while the mother and daughter stand still hugging and contemplating it.

Duality. Les Petites-Dalles, 2021.