British photographer Tom Shaw had just finished his 15-year stint as a staff photographer with Getty Images and was beginning a freelance career when his Tidal Sea Pools series started to take shape.

“It was an exciting time, and I wanted to spend a week shootings something for myself,” Tom tells us. “A few years earlier while on holiday in Cornwall, I shot a nice picture of some surfers while my wife and I sat on the headland. From this headland we could see tucked away one of these tidal sea pools – so we went and had a swim in it.”

“So after I finished my staff job, I headed off to Cornwall in a camper van and did a bit of research on these pools and found a total of 15 in the SW alone, so I decided to document them as well and shoot the surfing too.”

The result? A series of 15 landscape images that document the last remaining tidal sea pools in the Southwest of England.

These images provide a unique look into the small pockets of ocean we often take for granted while swimming at the beach.

Shaw also says the series “place[s] the viewer among the grand landscape within which the swimmers swim. They also contain a slice of unique British life, the seaside holiday, and the people who use these pools become part of the cultural landscape, yet remain safely within the physical landscape.”

See more of Tom Shaw’s work on his website.

All images © Tom Shaw