The Anchor of the Amoco Cadiz Photo

Photographer’s Note

From Wikipedia:

"The Amoco Cadiz was a VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier), owned by Amoco, that split in two after running aground on Portsall Rocks, three miles (5 km) off the coast of Brittany (France), on March 16, 1978, resulting at that time in the largest oil spill ever, currently the fifth-largest in history (though this ranking may vary depending on criteria)".

Thirty one years later, there is now very little to see of the terrible effects of the "Black tide" of oil that polluted the beaches of Brittany, causing great damage to the ecology of the area, and great financial loss involved with the damage to tourism, and the cost of the clear up operation.

The 20.5 tonne anchor of the vessel now lies on the harbourside of Portsall as a permanent reminder of this terrible event.

The building in the background is the lifeboat station with its slip.

You can just about see the anchor in the Google earth view, and the wreck site is also marked there.

Taken as JPEG: PP in FastStone and PhotoShop 7.

In the WS, a close up of the inscription on the plaque

tyro, Glint has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

tyro (2668) 2009-09-15 16:45

Welcome home, Peter!

I have been looking forward in the past couple of weeks to seeing some pictures from Brittany. And this is no disappointment.

As usual, a perfect composition. I don't see many of your favourite triangles here, but I do see the strong curving sweep of the sea-wall and perhaps even stronger curving sweeps of cobblestones which cleverly encircle the massive anchor and then lead the eye to the little lifeboat station in the background behind that little planter of red flowers.

As usual, impeccable sharpness, perfect exposure and very true colours. I'm looking forward to seeing some more soon!

Excellent!

Kind Regards,

John.

P.S. The Amoco Cadiz might be no more but Bev and I are pleased that the Mary Celeste is now in fine fettle!

saxo042 (16266) 2009-09-15 23:48

Hi Peter,
A very fine and interesting picture (in many ways). Looking at the thumbprint, I had the impression that you had taken a picture of a Formula 1 racing car... But the "real" picture shows something quite different. You have chosen a good point of view to include both the house in the background and the fine pattern of the paving stones to the left. You also seem to have had very good weather here!
Kind regards
Gunnar

Glint (3074) 2009-09-16 11:22

hello Peter,
a balanced composition with the anchor anchoring the shot.The middle part of the anchor leads the eye and then lifts us up and over to the view beyond.Lovely summer blues and I like the textural detail provided by the cobblestones.
best regards,
Bev