Rob Whitworth “Beach Pebble Rock”

Pattern, hue, tone, texture, fracture, fissure, form, photographed by Rob Whitworth in exquisite detail.

Rob Whitworth is a graphic designer and professional photographer with a love of the natural world. His fascination with beach pebbles started at an early age, when a friend gave him a paper bag full of them for his tenth birthday. Every pebble on the beach is unique and endlessly fascinating. The subtleties of colour and tone; the infinite variation of form; their tactile nature, rough and smooth and cold; the density and weights that differ for similar sizes; their intricate surface patterns. All works of art in their own right.

At art school, he studied typography and the mantra of a tutor “details, details, details” has remained with him ever since. Subconsciously, it has been in the application of all his creative activities. Now, he is able to combine his passion for typography and graphic design with his career as a professional photographer of gardens, plants and flowers.

When Rob was stuck at home during the first lockdown of the pandemic, he needed a creative outlet and so started to photograph these beach pebbles. Photographed in exquisite close-up detail, these macro images are a compilation of 20 – 30 separate shots, each with a different point of focus. When they are merged, the resulting single image gives complete sharpness from the front to the back.

Initially posted on Instagram @beachpebblesrock, these photographs have received so much positive feedback and encouragement from artists, ceramicists, designers and others who draw inspiration from the natural world, that the idea has continued to grow, and this exhibition at Inspire Makers is a progression of the project.

Rob’s knowledge of geology is limited but the pure aesthetics within these natural wonders is fantastic and so inspirational. He hopes this exhibition encourages others to take the time to stop and stare and really look at what they see.