Lens-Artists,  Street photography,  Themed galleries

Gallery: sitting on the dock of the bay

March 15, 2026 / 63 Comments

I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay

Watching the tide roll away

I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay

Wastin’ time

Stephen Lee Cropper / Otis Redding

How often in this busy world do we take the time to just sit? Sitting to enjoy a view, to take a pause from all the activity that fills our days, to simply relax? And if we do, are we ‘wasting time’ or are we using it wisely to recharge our batteries?

Anne’s Lens Artists challenge this week is all about relaxation. I usually find mine watching a good TV programme, reading a book or at the cinema – none of which is particularly interesting to photograph! So instead I’ve searched through my archives to find images of other people relaxing. All over the world, I discovered, I’ve spotted people sitting; if not always ‘on the dock of the bay’, often in equally restful places.

Is it a coincidence, I wonder, that many of these people are older? I think not. It seems that as we age we not only need to relax more, we also appreciate the benefits more. It also struck me that many of my photos were taken in Italy, a country where a slower pace of life is arguably more appreciated. There are quite a few too from Paris; unsurprising, given how often we visit.

My feature photo however was taken in Puerto Varas, Chile.

On the city walls, Lucca, Italy

Breakfast time on the rue de Buci, Paris

By the Seine in a Paris heatwave

By the Canal Saint Martin, Paris, in the same heatwave

Low tide at Buckler’s Hard, Hampshire, England

In the Piazza Costituzione, Cagliari, Sardinia

Locals in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, Italy

And in Ferndale, California

Station café, Roccasecca, Italy

One man and his dog, Lecce, Italy

Village cricket pitch in Minster Lovell, Cotswolds, England

Feet up in Bandipur, Nepal

In a park near Chinatown, San Francisco, California

In Seattle, Washington State

And finally, could you be more relaxed than this?

Spotted in a car park by the beach at Deception Pass, Washington State

63 Comments

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