A jetty is a simple line in a complicated landscape. At Rapid Bay, its straight edges reach into blue water beneath dry hills, bringing a sense of scale to the view.
Seen from above, the structure becomes a sequence of platforms and supports. Water surrounds each part of it. The hills occupy the background, while the jetty holds the eye close to the surface of the sea.
There is a clear relationship here between something built and the shape of the place around it. The jetty follows a deliberate course. The coast bends, rises and drops away.
The shape of the bay
The wider view gives the jetty its setting. A pale beach curves below the slopes. Trees and buildings gather near the shore, small against the land behind them. Across the bay, the water changes from light tones near the beach to darker blue farther out.
These two photographs work together because they give the bay different centres. One follows the jetty. The other follows the beach. Between them, the relationship between the hills, the shore and the water becomes easier to see.
For this small series, the view from above is enough. It brings the lines of the jetty and the curve of the bay into the same conversation, with the hills standing quietly behind them.
Explore more photographs in the South Australia collection and Australia from Above.
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