We had both been living in the UK for a long time, surprisingly close to one another, but it took ages for Noik and me to finally meet in person. I already knew him from the vivo.sk photo community as one of those rare authors who did things entirely his own way. No conventional clichés, just magical, surreal, and liminal vision. To me, his absolute best work came from his Horsham era and the beaches around Worthing, where he captured the otherwise mundane English coast with an unrepeatable atmosphere. He mostly relied on long exposures with a subtle, warm color shift – likely a technical imperfection of his strong ND filters – which made the whole scene feel like a dream you are having.

When we finally met, we naturally headed straight to his territory. Into Noikosmos. It was a perfect day. Monday morning, an empty pebble beach, overcast skies. Most of the time we had the place entirely to ourselves, with just a rare passerby or a dog walker crossing the frame once in a while – just scarce enough for a photographer's needs. Naturally, I tried to replicate the mood of his photos. The camera parameters were dialed in, the composition was similar. Everything was as it should be, yet – the result was different. The long exposure helped the atmosphere, but it still wasn't quite it. It was not his world...

Drifting through Noikosmos #1, 2011