October 2005; £24.99; paperback; 144pp; 117 photographs
ISBN 0-9548683-4-X

The Bardwell Press, in association with the National Trust and Magnum Photos, is proud to present Sea Fever, a photographic essay based on journeys around Britain's coast by the award winning photographer Stuart Franklin.

Sea Fever is a beautifully produced book about the changing face of Britain's coastline. High quality duotone reproduction of Stuart Franklin's stunning black and white photographs take the reader from the impact of storms in the Outer Hebrides to the aftermath of the flash flood in Boscastle, Cornwall, taking in some of the major maritime events of the year, including the Festival of the Sea, the re-enactment of the Battle of Trafalgar, Cowes Week and the Solent Fleet Review.

Addressing many of the concerns and pressures that are changing our shoreline, Sea Fever is an inspiring book that explores environmental and social issues such as shipbuilding, fisheries and the protection of the coast. It is a major cultural contribution to SeaBritain 2005 - a celebration of landscape and livelihoods. We have chosen Trafalgar Day to launch Sea Fever, a day symbolic of our maritime heritage, but also a day when we are looking critically at aspects of change occurring in our coastal environment.

Sea Fever includes a number of Franklin's photographs that appear in The Coast Exposed exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, London (until March 2006) and from 29th September at The Lowry, Salford Quays, Manchester.

Fiona Reynolds, Director-General of the National Trust writes,
"... This book is all about celebrating the beauty and diversity of our coast, expressed through stunning images - I defy anyone not to be inspired by the pictures in this collection ... this beautiful book will stand as a valuable record of our evolving coast, and the dynamic natural and cultural relationships it chronicles."

Stuart Franklin writes in his introduction: "One thing about the British Isles, that I think only black and white photography can truly capture, is the quality of light. It changes constantly ... I came closest to capturing this at Formby Point. A nagging wind was blowing. A storm had passed across the entire estuary of the Mersey leaving a partially leaden sky sweeping over the dunes.
And then, as if by magic, a tiny figure passed by under a voluminous sky, clutching sandals."

Franklin's best-known photograph is from Tiananmen Square, China, 1989 - a man defying a tank, for which he won a World Press award. Franklin was awarded the Tom Hopkinson Award for published photojournalism and the Christian Aid prize for humanitarian photography whilst covering the Sahel famine in 1984-5. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society.

Since 1990, Franklin has completed around twenty assignments for National Geographic Magazine. This has been work of a social documentary nature that has taken him many times to Central and South America, to China and South-East Asia, and Europe, where he recently (2002) completed a story on European unification. His other publications include The Time of Trees (Leonardo Arte: Milan, 1999) and La Citta Dinamica (Mondadori: Milan, 2003). His recent project Hotel Afrique will be exhibited from 6th October 2005 at the Pitzhanger Gallery, London.