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Three silver fish lie piled on a white surface. Some blood stains the background around the fish.

Finding an unlikely beauty in fish guts courtesy of photographer Giles Revell

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Date
27 June 2012

The flaccid carcass of a disemboweled fish is an unlikely subject choice when striving to create aesthetic beauty. It’s customary for our landlocked species to be at least a little phobic of our water-dwelling counterparts, owing both to their unappetising appearance and their putrid aroma. How refreshing then to be so drawn to the fishy still-lifes of photographer Giles Revell, commissioned for the most recent instalment of Port magazine (an edition entirely dedicated to food). But drawn we are, in spite of their milky eyes, slack jaws and explicitly visible intestines. So vivid are his images you can almost smell their salty tang in your nostrils. Bloody marvellous!

Two dead fish lie on a pale, stained surface. Dark red smears of blood pool around the fish on the left.
Above

Giles Revell: John Dory

Four severed fish heads lie scattered across a pale, clinical surface. Smears of blood and orange flesh mark the space around them.
Above

Giles Revell: Salmon

A pile of small, silver fish lies on a piece of stained white parchment paper. The fish are heaped together, their scales catching the light against the neutral background.
Above

Giles Revell: Herring

A mackerel lies on a white surface, surrounded by a large, irregular reddish-brown stain. A small, orange-brown object is tucked beneath the fish's belly.
Above

Giles Revell: Mackerel

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About the Author

James Cartwright

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James started out as an intern in 2011 and came back in summer of 2012 to work online and latterly as Print Editor, before leaving in May 2015.

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