Sebastian Hughes

The Shipping Forecast

What is the Shipping Forecast?

The Shipping Forecast is a BBC Radio Broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the British Isles.  It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by the BBC on Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

First broadcast in the 1920’s to warn generations of sea-farers of upcoming storms and gales, it is currently broadcast four times a day, providing weather forecasts for ocean shipping and fishing industries in thirty one areas around the British Isles. 

My initial research, revealed it wasn’t just the shipping and fishing industries who find it useful.  It has grown from a public service broadcast into a comforting daily listen, even for those not at sea.  Over time the Shipping Forecast has become somewhat of a British institution and now more than ever we can find solace in mundanity and regularity. In celebration of this, I am meeting it’s listeners and capturing their portraits. 

Here is who I have photographed so far. There are many more subjects to find and document and happily, each person I meet has a suggestion for the next.

Using Format