Homeland (Colour)
Lochcarron, Scotland 2020
More often than not, a sense of place is an integral ingredient of a strong contextual photograph. If we can manage that in South Sudan and South Georgia, it should be possible in my home country of Scotland. Whenever I work up here, I am slightly on edge as I feel a little bit more pressure to deliver.
This is probably the best photograph I have taken in Scotland (if we exclude the football images of Celtic and Rangers in the 1980s) because it scores highly on both subject and context. If one or other is mediocre there is no image, but in this case, the 14 pointer stag is magnificent and the rest is Scotland as Scots know it and as it is assumed to be by others. Grand, slightly mournful, but at all times unique.
I don’t have an issue magnifying nature. The romanticist movement glorified aesthetics and I am of that persuasion. Why dumb things down? Scotland can be bleak and gloomy, but therein lies its beauty.
I could not have achieved this frame, high up in the coastal hills of North West Scotland, without considerable local help and I would like to thank Colin Murdoch for his support and counsel. Our team call him “The deer whisperer” and I think that is about right. He is the most cheerful man I know at 5 am in the morning. I think this a deeply emotional image and all the better for it.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE
- Image Size: 56” x 78" in (142.24 cm x 198.12 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 93” in (180.34 cm x 236.22 cm)
STANDARD
- Image Size: 37” x 51” in (93.98 cm x 129.54 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 66” in (132.08 cm x 167.64 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
Over the Sea to Skye
Scotland, 2017
My primary goal that squally morning, high on the hills above Lochcarron, was to take a portrait of a big stag that would have a sense of place. It was important therefore to work with a lens wide enough to offer enough background detail that those familiar with the region could identify Skye in the background.
That side of the quest was less of a challenge than getting close enough to a big stag. They are skittish at best, but they were familiar with my fixer – Colin Murdoch – and that was the break that I needed.
When the moment came with this 12 pointer, it was imperative to have my focus pin sharp on his head – without that, there would certainly be no picture. The other important factor was that I wanted the stag to look regal and not nervous. Whilst camera focus is under my control, the posture of the stag is largely down to “the gods”. I just had to make myself as small and unthreatening as possible.
I first saw this image as a big print in our gallery in Paris and it grabbed the eye. There is not much I would really change. Even a few Parisians recognised Skye in the background.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE
- 79 × 71 inches in Edition of 12
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
Jura
Archival Pigment Print
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE
- 67 x 89 inches in Edition of 12
STANDARD
- 48 x 62 inches in Edition of 12
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
Homeland
Lochcarron, Scotland 2020
More often than not, a sense of place is an integral ingredient of a strong contextual photograph. If we can manage that in South Sudan and South Georgia, it should be possible in my home country of Scotland. Whenever I work up here, I am slightly on edge as I feel a little bit more pressure to deliver.
This is probably the best photograph I have taken in Scotland (if we exclude the football images of Celtic and Rangers in the 1980s) because it scores highly on both subject and context. If one or other is mediocre there is no image, but in this case, the 14 pointer stag is magnificent and the rest is Scotland as Scots know it and as it is assumed to be by others. Grand, slightly mournful, but at all times unique.
I don’t have an issue magnifying nature. The romanticist movement glorified aesthetics and I am of that persuasion. Why dumb things down? Scotland can be bleak and gloomy, but therein lies its beauty.
I could not have achieved this frame, high up in the coastal hills of North West Scotland, without considerable local help and I would like to thank Colin Murdoch for his support and counsel. Our team call him “The deer whisperer” and I think that is about right. He is the most cheerful man I know at 5 am in the morning. I think this a deeply emotional image and all the better for it.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE
- Image Size: 56” x 78" in (142.24 cm x 198.12 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 93” in (180.34 cm x 236.22 cm)
STANDARD
- Image Size: 37” x 51” in (93.98 cm x 129.54 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 66” in (132.08 cm x 167.64 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.