Tidal Prism

I was intrigued by the term ‘Tidal Prism’. In optics, a prism is a triangular piece of glass which splits light into its constituent components. While in geomorphology, a tidal prism is a triangular body of water formed between high and low tide that creates our inlets, lochs and estuaries. Rather than a static shoreline, it is a dynamic movement that defines our everchanging interface between land and sea. This is the focus of this series of work.

The amount of sand that has shifted with the tides in this area over the last ten years has been land changing.Low tide shines a light onto a shifting world of sand banks, seaweed and skerries. While the rising darkness of high tide chases the shoreline inward, turning beaches into flooded bays. The sand moving into and trapped by the skerries raises the height of the sea bed, creating huge sandbanks and changing the way the ebbing tide flows.