Southsea and Old Portsmouth, Hampshire, 2026
These two sit right next to each other but feel like different towns. Southsea is the open seafront: the shingle beach, Southsea Castle and a clear run along the Solent to Spinnaker Tower, Gosport and the forts standing out in the water. Old Portsmouth is five minutes along the coast path and centuries older: narrow lanes behind the Camber, the Cathedral, the Round Tower and the old fortifications wrapping round to Point and the harbour entrance where the ferries and warships pass close enough to touch.
This set comes from three separate visits: a June evening working the Southsea seafront as the light dropped towards Spinnaker Tower and the Solent forts, and two sessions in Old Portsmouth, in February and April, chasing blue hour and fog around the Camber, the Cathedral and the harbour walls. The seasons show: June is warm golden-hour colour over the beach and the Round Tower, while the Old Portsmouth frames lean into moodier, colder light: mist rolling off the water, gulls cutting through a grey sky, the odd storm-battered silhouette out past Spitbank Fort.
What keeps pulling me back to this stretch is how much it changes with the tide and the weather: the same handful of landmarks (the Round Tower, the Cathedral tower, Spinnaker Tower on the skyline) turn up again and again, lit completely differently depending on the hour. Old Portsmouth’s narrow streets and gates make for a nice contrast to Southsea’s wide-open prom: one is about the long view out to the Solent, the other about tucked-away corners, cobbles and ironwork.
It helps that it’s on the doorstep. I can be down on the seafront within minutes of a good sky starting to build, which is most of why this gallery keeps growing every season.
