Year of Coasts and Waters

Nairn, Scottish Highlands, 2020-21

A project exploring how Nairn’s natural coastal environment helped the local community cope with the Covid-19 outbreak.

When I initiated the project, back in January 2020, it was my intention to document a year in Nairn drawing inspiration from Scotland’s themed Year of Coast and Waters. I wanted to record the large public gatherings alongside quiet moments of solitude and contemplation.

When Covid-19 hit and the UK went into lockdown, all our plans were put on hold. There were much more important things at hand. The impact of Covid-19, while completely unforeseen, was swift and dramatic. Covid-19 made being around others highly dangerous. We were told to stay indoors and avoid human contact as much as possible. Only venturing out to buy food or to take exercise was allowed.

In the early days of lockdown, taking that permitted hour of outdoor exercise often meant going for a walk – sometimes down by the river or out along the beach. Collectively, we seemed to rediscover the natural beauty on our doorstep. Some took up wild swimming. Others paddleboarding or kayaking. Many, like me, simply walked. We were fortunate. But we were no less isolated for it.

For me, walking and photography go hand in hand, and this project helped with my own sense of isolation. The portraits on display here are all people I encountered on my walks, many of whom I had met for the first time. All were happy to talk and have their photograph taken. Taken from a safe distance, the portraits explore this tension between of separation and closeness, the familiar and the strange.

Scotland’s extended Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21 has drawn to a close, and the project is complete. But the Years of Covid may be with us for some time. Even now, with many of us vaccinated, the risk from Covid-19 has not wholly gone away. Infection rates remain high, and for some encountering others remains a cause for concern. This feeling may never go away. But I hope that this project will last as a record of how people coped with these unprecedented times: a document of our resilience.

Past Exhibitions

October 2021 - Nairn Community and Arts Centre

February 2022 - Eastgate Community Gallery, Inverness

June 2022 - Eden Court, Inverness

Media Coverage

Press and Journal - 25 September 2021

Press and Journal - 30 September 2021

Inverness Courier - 14 October 2021

STV News - 4 October 2021

Inverness Courier - 27 February 2022

Northern Scot - 27 February 2022

Ross-shire Journal - 27 February 2022