Land Loss continues the artist’s deep interest in the British landscape, exploring themes of time, community and resilience. These absorbing portraits, landscapes and delicate details are captured with Miechowski’s characteristic sensitivity, presenting a quiet space of contemplation for the viewer. In the work geology and erosion acts as a gentle and sometimes abrupt reminder of loss and impermanence in the world. As Miechowski poignantly learns by observing the community, “we too are as temporary as the cliffs”. At a time of social and ecological upheaval, Land Loss creates an extended metaphor where uncertainty, compassion and care is carried by and within the landscape.
"The British east coast is the fastest eroding coastline in Europe. Landslides and rising sea levels eat away at the soft foundations on which life here has been built. I expected to find storms, rough seas, ruined houses falling into the waves. A sense of urgency from the people living on the edge of a landscape, where entire towns have been lost to the North Sea. Instead, the land felt still, the waters were calm, and time appeared to move slowly.
Every time I return, however, something has changed. Cracks creep through roads that once led to villages, thistles grow in places where homes used to be. Traces of what has gone remind us of what is to come. The morning sun reveals what progress the sea has made in the night. Sure and steady. I know that, before long, this place will come to nothing, yet it seems impossible to imagine. I went there often to watch it change, and make pictures before it does.
Families have lived by the cliffs for generations, hoping the sea would never reach their door. Others just moved there, fixing up a place that they knew would soon disappear. It was worth it, they’d say, to see the sunrise and hear the birds and the waves. If only for a few more years. There is something hypnotic about this place – rhythms seem to stand outside of human time. The vastness of the sea brings our truth into focus; we are a part of all this. We have built structures and distractions, but in this landscape they slowly come undone. We’re as temporary as the cliffs. The thought unsettles me yet I can understand why, despite all precariousness, people would want to make a home here, between the land and sky, and watch as the sea edges closer." - Max Miechowski, 2023
Max Miechowski biography
Max Miechowski (b. 1989) is a British photographer based in London. With a focus on long-form projects, which are often rooted in portraiture, his practice centres on themes of connection and community, and explores the intricate, at times conflicting, relationships between people and place.
He has participated in numerous group exhibitions including at the National Portrait Gallery, London; BASE Milano, Milan; Copeland Gallery, London; Galerie Joseph at Paris Photo, Paris; and ThePrintSpace, London. Recent solo exhibitions include Land Loss, Les Champs Libre, France (2023), Land Loss, Have A Butchers, London (2023) Land Loss, PhotoLondon, Somerset House (2022), A Portrait of Newham, 1000 Dockside, London (2021); and Burgess Park, ThePrintSpace, London (2018).
His work has been featured in a wide variety of publications including The Guardian, the New York Times, It’s Nice That, M Magazine, British Journal of Photography, and the Financial Times.
Miechowski has been the recipient of multiple awards, including the Photo London/Nikon Emerging Photographer Award (2022), LensCulture’s Emerging Talent Award (2019), the British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Britain (2019 and 2018), and the People’s Choice Award of the Palm Photo Prize (2018).