Matt Writtle wasn’t scared of heights in his youth, but says that over the years he’s become increasingly reluctant to take the risk. As such, the British photographer didn’t make it to the pinnacle of Pulpit Rock, on the Dorset coast, though his wife, Caroline, did. The couple were holidaying with their two young sons, Billy, six, and Thommi, four – a two-week affair of typical British weather and cloudy days by the water.
Writtle took the shot from the rock opposite, on his iPhone 10. “I liked the juxtaposition of the young boy entering the frame to the left, and the old man exiting the frame to the right. The people look so small, like ants; the resulting shot is almost Lowry-esque. People have also suggested it reminds them of the evolution of man.”
He desaturated the image slightly and lowered the contrast on his iPhone, and used the vignette tool to darken the edges. “I began photography in 1992, and started out on a local paper. We used to burn in the corners so the subs wouldn’t crop the image; clearly the habit has stuck!”
Writtle doesn’t know whether the footholes at the bottom of the rock formed naturally or were human-made, but notes that, “if you look closely, you can see an inscription that says something along the lines of ‘climb this at your own risk’. There was a small queue of people, all different ages, waiting to have a go, so it was clearly a risk most people were willing to take.”
