I was lucky, I am lucky. I came bursting out of the water and into the light with a great gasp, a loud heaving that you’d have thought people on the river bank would have been able to hear. There were no boats coming – I’d checked before I jumped, because obviously I didn’t want to tangle with river traffic. I’d have gone off a bridge over the M1 otherwise. No, I wanted a watery death.

Joseph Gallivan – England All Over

The higher your starting point, the bigger the splash. Hockney was aware of this. But if you focus on the splash, rather than the water, you’re doing something that is impossible in real life: ‘you’re freezing a moment and it becomes something else’.

Splash quote ©David Hockney

Tower Bridge picture ©Bobby Seal