I use the 'original' Rider Waite deck:
In my deck there is no sunset. A man lies, face turned away with a literal river of blood running from his back. The swords look as though they have been carefully placed, staged almost, on his back. There is no struggle, he has not been thrashing about in agony but laid there and allowed it to happen. His hand is clawed, almost into the shape of a crab. The water he is facing is black, merging into a sky with no stars. Near the shore is a murky yellow.
It is a ten representing completion and a new cycle.
The dominant colours are black - the void before light, a dark night of the soul where everything seems insurmountable. The yellow merges with the black: zest for life, light, energy, communication are murky and diluted in this dark unfathomable subconsciousness.
The red: vitality, passion, direction and optimism flow outwards, away from the body.
The grey of the swords and sand represent indifference, naivety, uncertainty or even deliberate indifference. You have allowed yourself to get stabbed in the back or you are indifferent, hence the exaggarated martyredom.
The swords are facing down, into the earth, grounding their upright meanings of protection, defense, knowledge, clarity and freedom. They can also mean victory - this person has failed or feel they have failed. They have given into their fate without a whimper.
The readings where this card has come up have given it many interpretations depending on the position and spread. One has been a feeling of martyredom, a camp, staged sense of victimhood. It is a message that life is not as overwhelming as it is perceived and it is mostly in your head.
The other main meaning, has been a literal stabbing in the back that you could have prevented had you been perceptive enough. It could have been stopped given caution. And as someone said earlier, it is almost like the Fool reversed, you should have looked before you leaped or, it is a warning to watch out. Yet it is a ten and the damage has already been done.
It represents betrayal by someone close to you, such as infidelity, a friend talking behind your back, someone ripping you off.
It also represents a feeling, unfounded, of victimhood, neurosis and martyredom.
Edited to say: the meanings as they have come up in my spreads.
lmao! To answer the original question - he's lying on a shore, on sand.