C-type photograph. Birling Gap, to the west of Beachy Head on the south coast of England, forms part of the longest natural exposure of chalk cliffs in Europe. This photograph is paired with another by Jem Southam, taken from a different angle. In both photographs, the stark monumentality of the cliff face contrasts with a sense of movement created by the rocks that have tumbled down to the shoreline. Southam portrays the scene from a low angle, placing us among the rocks strewn along the beach, and allowing the cliffs to tower above us.
