Felixstowe's dramatic side on show

Richard Cornwell

THESE stunning images taken at Felixstowe port show the glamour and drama of the modern shipping industry - and the power and technology of the world's biggest vessels.

Taken by Felixstowe-based photographer Stephen Waller, the photos have been used to produce huge acrylic images for the walls of the new �4 million Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) office building on the edge of Ipswich.

The company commissioned Mr Waller to produce the art work - and was thrilled with the results.

“I have been supplying acrylics in smaller sizes to clients for three or four years, but have been waiting for a project like this to come along, so that I could use them to their full potential,” said Mr Waller.

“Acrylics are so modern and the new MSC building, with its glass exterior and modern design, was custom made for them.”

The images are printed directly to the back of the acrylic, rather than onto paper first, so changes in humidity will not have any effect - acrylics produced with this process are often installed in damp and humid environments, like swimming pools and even on the outside of buildings.

Mr Waller said his aim was to produce images which pushed the boundaries between photography and art.

“Extreme wide angle fisheye lenses were used for some of the shots, taken both from the quayside and on board a vessel moored at Felixstowe port's Trinity Terminal,” he said.

His favourite piece was a 360 degree panoramic image taken from above the bridge of a ship, with views over both the bow and stern of the vessel, as it was being loaded by the port's huge cranes.

The image - now hanging in the company board room at Ransomes Europark - is split into three 1.2 metre square panels, set millimetres apart to create a 3.6m-long triptych work of art.

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