Greg Pease

Windjammers

Heavy sails rise imposingly from the horizon. As flags from different countries flutter in the wind, the sun transforms a dramatic sky. The works of photographer Greg Pease are brief escapes from daily life to sanctuaries of salty sea air and surging waves. Schooners make their way through endless expanses of glistening water, turning to and fro to battle powerful winds. Pease expertly captures the freedom and beauty of the sea in his series, “Windjammers”. The photographer draws inspiration from seafaring vessels, particularly this kind, which first rose to popularity in the 17th Century off the coast of the Netherlands.

Authenticity is always at the centre of the artist’s work, as evidenced by his talented depiction of the ships’ finer details and the re-creation of their materiality. By using a reduced colour palette, Pease focuses our attention on the textures of the water and the sails.

Pease has attended the famous Regatta in the Chesapeake Bay since the early 80s (his first work, “Sailboat Racing, Chesapeake Bay”, dates back to 1982), taking photographs of the participating boats. After starting in Baltimore, Maryland, the race finishes 127 nautical miles later in the Chesapeake Bay in Portsmouth, Virginia. Pease takes his photos just as the boats approach the finish line. He has also taken photographs at the Gloucester Harbour races for many years. Sometimes the schooners appear heavy and powerful, at other times they glide gracefully over a flat sea.

The beauty of sailboats is captured in these stunning images. Demonstrating a clear passion for the sport of sailing, Pease presents his wooden heroes to the viewer as fast, agile structures with a poetic, almost magical quality: regatta participants stretched out along the horizon like beads on a necklace.