The Breaking Light

About this piece

Translucent turquoise waves rise and collapse beneath broad plumes of white spray. Against the subdued blue of the distant coastline, the breaking water reveals folds, ridges, and fleeting pockets of light.

The story

I watched the water rise until the distant coast almost disappeared behind it. For a moment, the wave held its own small landscape: a hollow of green, a bright ridge, white spray lifting clear of the crest. I released the shutter as those shapes began to give way. What drew me was the contrast between the dark sea beyond and this sudden transparency, the way something so powerful could briefly let the light through.