Photography book review: Time & Tide - Photographs from Praia Piquinia, By Christian Chaize with an introduction by Jen Bekman

Baywatch: The beach at Praia Piquinia – at 7.23pm on 20 August 2011 (Christian Chaize)

Featuring colourful beach umbrellas and dreamy blue horizons, this beautiful oversized book offers a breath of fresh air, and evokes fantasies of Mediterranean travel.

The photographer Christian Chaize returned many times, over the course of eight years, to shoot an intimate beach in the south of Portugal from the same vantage point. The resulting photographs provide an enchanting portrait of the tides, light, weather, and people that shape and reshape the landscape each day. A charming and thought-provoking meditation, Time and Tide will appeal to anyone who loves the beach or appreciates the miracle of looking closely that is inherent in photography. Christian Chaize is an award-winning artist and photographer. He lives in France. Jen Bekman is curator of her eponymous Manhattan gallery and of 20x200, a website featuring limited-edition fine art prints.

Chronicle Books £21.99. Order for £16.21 (free p&p) from the Independent Bookshop: 08430 600 030