Stephen Russell Shilling

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  • The winds of the Atlantic never stop blowing. At least it seems that way. The leaves of the maritime forests nestled behind the dunes are always rustling, the grasses always dancing. The craters in the sand shuffle about imperceptibly. The landscape is always changing, always shifting.
    IBSP-NJ-645-BW-2-013_Final_Display.jpg
  • Stratocumulus clouds seen high above the grass covered dunes of Island Beach State Park. Signs lead visitors to the foot path and remind them to "keep off the dunes."
    _6272028.jpg
  • A seagull glides above a grass topped dune. Remnants of a fence, doomed to impermanence due to the shifting sands dots the edge, a fallacy of protection.
    IBSP-NJ-35-2-013_Final_Display.jpg
  • "Something I find myself enjoying more and more each year is time spent by the water. If it is the ocean, that’s wonderful. But it can be any body of water. A lake, a river, or a stream. <br />
<br />
Island Beach State Park is rich in textures, and most of the flora has a ruggedness and resilience you can see. In its grasses, small shrubs, and even trees farther back beyond the dunes there is a presence you can feel. It reminds me of the Atlantic coast of Ireland, a place I feel deeply connected to."
    IBSP-NJ-645-BW-2-010_Final_Display.jpg
  • Something I find myself enjoying more and more each year is time spent by the water. If it is the ocean, that’s wonderful. But it can be any body of water. A lake, a river, or a stream. <br />
<br />
Island Beach State Park is rich in textures, and most of the flora has a ruggedness and resilience you can see. In its grasses, small shrubs, and even trees farther back beyond the dunes there is a presence you can feel. It reminds me of the Atlantic coast of Ireland, a place I feel deeply connected to.
    IBSP-NJ-35-4-023_Final_Display.jpg
  • A small wooden signpost tells visitors to "KEEP AWAY FROM DUNES" at Island Beach State Park, New Jersey. I had been sure to maintain my distance from any dune I saw had some sort of protection, like a fence post. Even if it had been buried by the wind shifted sands. I wondered if there were some dunes that were being more preserved. Of course the though "who would know?" passed through my mind. But ecosystems, even those that appear resilient are delicate things.
    IBSP-NJ-35-2-016_Final_Display.jpg
  • Evidence of dune sand saltation, a form of erosion by wind, seen on New Jersey's Island Beach State Park.
    _6272101_DxO-2.jpg
  • American Beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata) seen here growing on Island Beach State Park, New Jersey.
    _6272114.jpg
  • Footprints of beachgoers can be seen between American Beachgrass covered dunes at Island Beach State Park, New Jersey.
    _6272102.jpg
  • A field of American Beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata) seen on the backbones of Island Beach State Park, New Jersey.
    _6272126-Pano.jpg
  • You can feel out of place as a photographer. I often I do. You’re a detached participant, an observer. You’re a follower lead by whatever you find interesting. You follow the light, follow the activity. You hope to find the poetry of it all.     I followed families, fish and feathered gulls. I followed sand pipers and footprints. I followed plastic bags, the castaways of midday meals. I followed fisherman that moved, fighting the wind, the rain and the spray of splashing waves, and those who sat statuesque in their status surveying their surroundings. I followed paths and walked along fences that disappeared into dunes, man’s hand buried by time.
    IBSP-NJ-35-1-016_Final_Display.jpg
  • You can feel out of place as a photographer. I often I do. You’re a detached participant, an observer. You’re a follower lead by whatever you find interesting. You follow the light, follow the activity. You hope to find the poetry of it all.     I followed families, fish and feathered gulls. I followed sand pipers and footprints. I followed plastic bags, the castaways of midday meals. I followed fisherman that moved, fighting the wind, the rain and the spray of splashing waves, and those who sat statuesque in their status surveying their surroundings. I followed paths and walked along fences that disappeared into dunes, man’s hand buried by time.
    IBSP-NJ-35-1-018_Final_Display.jpg
  • Small hills, textured grasses and hardy shrubs form the beautiful landscapes of Island Beach State Park's sand dunes. In the distance, a fisherman has parked his pickup truck on the beach and set up for a long day of fishing. The winds are warm but strong, the sky is overcast and there is more than a hint of the possibility of a storm later on.
    IBSP-NJ-35-4-06_Final_Display.jpg
  • Time, and the winds coming off the Atlantic have pushed this dune away from the sea's edge and begun to consume a wooden fence offering a slightly surreal scene.
    IBSP-NJ-35-2-019_Final_Display.jpg
  • A sandy path winds it's way through textured shrubs made hardy by the constant winds blowing off the Atlantic Ocean at Island Beach State Park, New Jersey, one of the last undeveloped barrier islands on the Northeast coast.
    IBSP-NJ-35-2-024_Final_Display.jpg
  • A sandy path winds it's way through textured shrubs made hardy by the constant winds blowing off the Atlantic Ocean at Island Beach State Park, New Jersey, one of the last undeveloped barrier islands on the Northeast coast.
    IBSP-NJ-35-2-011_Final_Display.jpg
  • There was another fisherman. His wealth consisted of only three fishing poles and no vehicle in sight. But he had two sons. Instead of a folding chair, there was a tent nestled into the grass at the base of a dune where it wasn’t supposed to be. The only thing weighing it down were the women watching on as the men caught that day’s meal. It’s likely that they hadn’t anticipated the stormy weather, but all I heard was cackling laughter as they fought against the wind as it tried to turn their tent into a kite.                 <br />
<br />
The father dug holes in the ground to secure the lines, his two sons helping him. They dug feverishly, hardly spoke, only occasional grunts and laughter. Theirs was a practiced routine undoubtedly performed in all manner of weather. The men worked as though the fish were on a schedule and they were already late. Occasionally, the father would wade out into the surf, cast his rod, and do battle with the wind and the waves, a cigarette as his primary companion.
    2018-09-07_SRS_IBSP_35_2-15-Final_Di...jpg
  • You can feel out of place as a photographer. I often I do. You’re a detached participant, an observer. You’re a follower lead by whatever you find interesting. You follow the light, follow the activity. You hope to find the poetry of it all.     <br />
I followed families, fish and feathered gulls. I followed sand pipers and footprints. I followed plastic bags, the castaways of midday meals. I followed fisherman that moved, fighting the wind, the rain and the spray of splashing waves, and those who sat statuesque in their status surveying their surroundings. I followed paths and walked along fences that disappeared into dunes, man’s hand buried by time.
    IBSP-NJ-35-4-022_Final_Display.jpg
  • I followed families, fish and feathered gulls. I followed sand pipers and footprints. I followed plastic bags, the castaways of midday meals. I followed fisherman that moved, fighting the wind, the rain and the spray of splashing waves, and those who sat statuesque in their status surveying their surroundings. I followed paths and walked along fences that disappeared into dunes, man’s hand buried by time.
    IBSP-NJ-35-3-024_Final_Display.jpg
  • IBSP-NJ-35-4-05_Final_Display.jpg
  • _6272108.jpg
  • "Surface creep," a type of wind caused erosion forms patterns of craters in the sand on Island Beach State Park, New Jersey.  The winds of the Atlantic never stop blowing. At least it seems that way. The leaves of the maritime forests nestled behind the dunes are always rustling, the grasses always dancing. The craters in the sand shuffle about imperceptibly. The landscape is always changing, always shifting.
    IBSP-NJ-645-BW-2-012_Final_Display.jpg