Reverie | reverie (n): a state of deep and often dreamy contemplation or daydreaming, where one’s thoughts and imagination wander freely and without a fixed purpose.

Martin Amis’s Reverie is a natural continuation of his previous work, This Land. It sees the photographer return to the Thames Estuary and its surrounding areas in North Kent, the tidal area where the River Thames meets the North Sea. Like dreams, this landscape, not quite land, not quite water, is an in-between space, neither here nor there. It is a landscape scored with stories of the past, as well as uncertainty around the future.

People are absent from the images, yet there are traces of human presence: the skeletal hulks of ships, electricity lines and fences, polluted waters, and industrial pipes billowing smoke on the horizon. Through these subtle details, Amis alludes to the ongoing destruction of these rural areas, many of which have been earmarked for new housing developments.

The passing of time is evident throughout. As the series segues through the seasons, we are carried into a dreamlike flow, witnessing both the quiet strength and beauty of nature, while also recognizing what we risk losing in destroying these precious habitats.

Martin Amis is a British photographer, publisher and bookstore owner living in Kent, United Kingdom. He is passionate about the significance and ongoing development of the photobook medium and in 2007 founded Photobookstore.co.uk one of the leading photobook outlets. As well as supporting many independent publishers and self-publishing photographers over the years, he also set up his own imprint Photo Editions in 2021 which has published 10 books including his own titles This Land and Closed. His latest photobook Reverie, a continuation of his long-term project documenting environmental change was released in late 2025.

All Images © Martin Amis