Jem Southam (Great Britain, 1950) is one of the leading landscape photographers today. The primary theme of his work is the manner in which changes happen under the influence of natural circumstances and human interventions.

For instance, he documented the vestiges of the tin industry in Cornwall ('The Red River', 1989) and at set times over several years photographed the filling and drying up of water pools, the effects of tidal flow in river mouths and the erosion along rocky coasts ('Rockfalls Rivermouths Ponds', 2000). Southam's reserved-looking photographs show moments in centuries-old processes; they are fragments of what he calls 'patterns of change' which are inseparably linked with the earth and human presence. The way in which his photographs are arranged in series often reveals remarkable visual parallels with the creation story.