While working on Perspective of Nudes, Brandt began to shift his focus in the mid-1950s from the surreal to the purely formal, abandoning perspective studies to work more exclusively with the nude figure. He focused close up on disembodied forms rather than the whole body, whether photographing in the studio or in natural light on the rocky beaches of East Sussex, Normandy, and the south of France. Body parts and dramatic shadows fill almost the entire frame, reduced until they are no longer human but simply curvaceous shapes and subtle textures reflecting and responding to their surroundings—warm, smooth flesh on cold, rough rock. Body and landscape together take on a sensual, almost interchangeable duality as fingertip and rock and hip and rolling coastline transform into each other. 

East Sussex Coast (June 1979) illustrates the additive and reductive retouching techniques that Brandt frequently employed on the surface of his photogra-phic prints—gouging, scoring, and supplementing detail and tones with graphite and ink. On this print, he enhanced the hair by penciling in lines that add texture to the print, mimicking the windswept strands. Additional pencil marks and black ink punctuate the roughly lined cliffs and rocky shore.