Portsmouth is five minutes from Gosport by ferry. I’ve made that crossing more times than I can count – on the way to school, to meet friends, or just to clear my head. I used to pass Warrior every morning. A mate even had his wedding reception on board. And yet, I hadn’t properly set foot in the dockyard since I was eight.
So I went back – with the OM-2n, two Zuikos, and no particular plan. Just film, the heat, and a handful of hours to see what the city would give me.
Warrior: iron lines, memory, and a camera of its own
HMS Warrior was first. It always is. She sits just beyond the terminal – all black iron and crossed rigging, like a battleship designed by a gothic architect. Familiar, but not.
Before anything else, I set the OM-2n down on a cannon and took its portrait. Just a quick frame – a small, silent nod to the tool doing all the looking that day.
Then I got to work.
The wooden wheels drew me in. Side by side, polished, deliberate. I worked them with the 28mm, letting the shadows and symmetry speak.
At the bow, the figurehead held its line against the sky. I’ve passed it a hundred times. Never really seen it. Funny how glass reveals what routine ignores.
The harbour tour: air, heat, and quiet moments
I’ve been out in the harbour before. But that day was scorching, and the idea of sitting still on a moving boat sounded like the most luxurious thing in the world. So I boarded the harbour tour – part for the view, part for the breeze.
A couple sat just ahead. She raised her phone for a photo while he sat still beside her, utterly unfazed. I took the frame through the ferry rail. A photo of a photo in the making – quiet, unposed, and already fading by the time I lowered the camera.
Later we passed the HMS Queen Elizabeth. It loomed like a misplaced continent. I took one shot. That was enough.
Switching films: Delta for the shadows
Back on land, I swapped the Tri-X for Delta 3200, rated at 1600. I knew I’d need the extra room once I stepped inside Victory. Below deck, light doesn’t just fade – it folds in on itself.
Victory feels different. It doesn’t perform. It remembers.
This was Nelson’s ship. The lead at Trafalgar. The deck he died on. You don’t visit her. You move through her – slower, quieter. She asks that of you.
I started at the stern. Everyone does. The name arched in bold lettering, theatrical and absolute. I waited for the moment to clear, then took the frame.
Inside, the light dropped hard. I slowed the shutter and moved with intention. The 50mm stayed on – better for framing the weight of it all. Ropes coiled like punctuation. Cannons tucked beneath beams. Wooden planks carrying the weight of a thousand untold things.
I shot without rushing. Some places don’t let you take more than they want to give.
The Mary Rose – another day
I followed the signs toward the Mary Rose, but didn’t go in. Ships that spend five centuries underwater deserve more than a quick look. I’ll come back. That one needs its own morning.
The painter by the railings
Outside the dockyard, just before the noise picked back up, I saw him – a painter, standing by the railings, brush in hand, working oils into canvas. The heat hadn’t slowed him. The canvas was nearly there.
He wasn’t local. Down from the South for the day. We talked about paint, light, and patience. Then he noticed the OM-2n.
“Is that film?” he asked.
I nodded. We talked shop – different tools, same mindset. Wait for the moment. Work with what the day gives you.
I asked if he’d mind me taking a few frames. He didn’t. I took two. Delta still loaded. ND now on. The same roll that had seen the decks of Victory now catching sunlight off a stranger’s brush.
Looking back
I didn’t shoot everything. Didn’t need to. The frames that stayed with me weren’t the biggest or the brightest. They were quiet. Ropes in shadow. A couple mid-frame. A painter caught mid-thought. A ship that still holds its breath.
After all the times I’ve crossed that harbour, it still found a way to show me something new.
Shot on Olympus OM-2n with Zuiko 28mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/3.5 – Kodak Tri-X & Ilford Delta 3200 (rated at 1600)