Mevagissey

On this, our first visit to Mevagissey, we were struck by the village’s industrial vitality. Fishermen were active on the quay and in their boats, going about the business that has been the village’s main source of income for centuries. It is said that tourism has only recently replaced fishing as Mevagissey’s dominant industry. Yet, despite the gift shops and galleries, the impression on this April day was of a village in which the tourist played only a supporting role as witness to performances that have been played out in the Mevagissey harbour for many hundreds of years.

I had hoped to capture a shot of these boats, tied up at the fish landing berth, with the fishermen themselves in a more prominent position: one standing in a boat, perhaps, with the other on the quay. However, whatever the nature of the challenge in which they were so absorbed, it was clearly going to keep them occupied for some time to come. Reluctantly coming to the conclusion that they were unlikely to move in the foreseeable future, I decided that the fishermen would have to remain barely noticeable features in the scene.

Canon EOS 5D and EF 24-105mm lens.

Exposure of 1/30 second at f/13.