Open to the abstract

Over the past two years I have been working on a long-term series documenting  Muizenberg beach. For this series, I am primarily interested in photographing people and the way they interact with the beach and each other. Muizenberg is one of Cape Town’s most representative beaches and there is so much happening there on a daily basis. It’s a tapestry of life that’s a joy to photograph.

But there are times when I’m less interested in human interaction. These are usually times when I’m walking on the beach in the evening, recalibrating after a long day behind the computer screen, and happy to be alone with my thoughts. I’ve noticed that during these quiet times I’m increasingly interested in the shapes, textures, shades, and patterns on display. The flecks of foam scattered along the shoreline after a strong onshore wind has been blowing, or the way fresh sand scatters across old footprints. I’ve started photographing these patterns, and am increasingly opening myself up to making more “abstract photos” (for want of a better term).

Foam near the bridge. Muizenberg. 2018. Brendon Bosworth.

There’s no real formula for these sorts of photos. It’s simply about allowing the mind to engage with the abstract, and finding arrangements of things that make sense as a whole. The key, it seems, is to remain open to whatever presents itself.

One of the things I like about photography is that it makes me more in tune with my surroundings. It has opened up new ways for me to see and experience the world. Slowly learning to tune into this more abstract way of visualising pictures has reminded me that there are so many ways of seeing, and so many layers for us to interpret.