My photo, Dies Irae, has been included in Arti et Amicitiae’s ARTI 2.020 show, the third edition of its Summer Salon. The title (Day of Wrath) is my response to…
Next summer I will be artist in residence at the Ness of Brodgar archaeological dig, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This wonder of the ancient world covers 2.5 hectares…
For the last month I've been sharing a studio with the distinguished artist Stanley Cursiter. This is not on a literal level: He used this space as a young man…
Since this photo of a year ago, Artic Willow has become a mum to daughter Aspen, who’s already won the best kid class at an agricultural show on Orkney where they both live. In a couple of weeks time I’ll back on the Northern Isles and hoping to photograph both of them. Goats are extraordinary animals but tough to work with because they’re in a state of constant motion. So making a portrait like the one above involves at least as much luck as skill… In short, I’m crossing my fingers and hoping to get lucky again!
Recently my photos served as inspiration for the Stromness Writers Group on Orkney where I was having an exhibition. My friend Gill Tennant suggested using my work as writing prompts,…
Last summer, the Cloud Appreciation Society jointly launched a competition with Stromness Museum for the best cloud photos taken on any of the 72 islands of Orkney. The deadline is May 2018 and you can enter eight shots, which gives plenty of scope for clouds of all kinds and seasons. With its vast skyscapes, Orkney is the perfect location for appreciating clouds. So I too pointed my camera upwards and began to snap away.
It was an astonishing experience. Sometimes involving delicate sky calligraphy and sometimes suggesting Armageddon and impending doom.
After a few days, it became quite normal for me to wander through fields with my head almost literally in the clouds. And it’s a wonder that I didn’t fall over, especially as I felt distinctly light headed!
It’s October now and I will be returning to Orkney for an exhibition at the Northlight Gallery in Stromness. That’s an adventure in itself and will involve lots of hard work. But I’ll also be taking plenty of cloud breaks, which – without doubt – will give me a completely different perspective on the world. (more…)
This is where I will be in three weeks and three days time: back in Orkney where I’m having an exhibition at the excellent Northlight Gallery in Stromness. It’s called “Lost In Time”, a title which describes how I experience photography where losing myself, all sense of time and my bearings are essential elements in the intuitive process of finding the unexpected. This show juxtaposes journeys in the Middle East and North Africa with those made in Ireland and Orkney. In other words: places that either very, very dry or extremely wet: the Sahara meets bog.
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Recently I was sent a flyer for a cloud photo competition to be judged by the legendary Cloud Appreciation Society. A great choice of subject matter because Orkney – where I’m based at present – has enormous skies and dramatic weather. So, instead of pointing my camera horizontally or towards the ground, I have started looking upwards, an experience which is quite literally dizzying. And, with my head in the clouds, anything is possible. To quote the great photographer Alfred Stieglitz: “My cloud photographs are equivalents of my most profound life experiences, my basic philosophy of life. All art is an equivalent of the artist’s most profound life experiences.” (more…)
Returning to Orkney in the summer, I am experiencing the simmer dim, an eternal twilight where nights are brief or even non-existent. Right now darkness descends shortly before midnight and daylight…
Picture perfect? The early morning light, the ships and cloud reflections are all there, but so too is Orkney County Council with its extensive repairs to the water system. Personally I love a little imperfection: It shakes things up and throws them off balance. Location: Stromness, Mainland, Orkney
