Documenting the many navigation markers dotted around the coastline of Britain, Navigate is a series of photographs taken over a period of three years by British artist Paul Thompson. The markers, vastly varied in appearance, lend distinct personalities becoming figurative symbols, always different, always the same, anchored in the seemingly endless sea. Shot at sunset using a large format film camera with exposure times ranging between one and eight seconds.

Brought up by the coast in the North East of England, Thompson devoted days, if not weeks, to finding the markers by foot across the country, recognising the hidden ‘language’ these small and unexceptional markers convey. Recalling Britain’s identity as an island nation and coincidentally beginning in 2016 when the country voted to leave the European Union, Navigate looks at Britain from the edges out.