Shipwreck

In the age of sail and steam, the waters off Britain's south-western coast were among the most treacherous in the world with everything from strong tidal currents and submerged rocks to severe storms and thick fog threatening seafarers. Thousands of ships were lost there over the centuries. From Cornwall and the remote Isles of Scilly, five generations of the Gibson family documented these shipwrecks in photographs, creating a unique archive of an era when seafaring meant risking one's life.