Andrew Forsyth's Image

Andrew started following the starling murmurations, at their roosts in Brighton, on Britain’s south coast, in November 2013.

‘Many photographers have explored this subject, and so I challenged myself to find a new way to capture the spectacle,’ he says. The flock’s winter numbers are boosted by thousands of migrants from Europe. On their return from foraging each day the starlings gather in large groups to perform spellbinding aerial shows, before heading to communal roosts for the night. ‘I started simply documenting the murmurations,’ explains Andrew, ‘before moving on to setting them against cityscapes and then to creating more expressive shots using handheld, and longer exposures’. Towards the end of a large murmuration, the birds would split into small groups, performing ever closer to the water until they were only just clearing the surface. Despite the severe storms that hit the coast that winter, they continued to perform this routine every night. Shooting into the lashing rain, Andrew was constantly cleaning his lens. He balanced the motion blur he wanted against the sharp elements in the frame. With the stormy sea as backdrop, he captured the traces of the murmuring starlings, which look as if they are disappearing into the wind and waves.