FAR FROM THE CENTRE OF THINGS

"I was better with the sounds of the sea, Than with the voices of men, And in desolate and desert places, I found myself again."

Hugh MacDiarmid,from Stony Limits and Other Poems

In 1933, the Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid moved into a small, abandoned fisherman’s cottage on the island of Whalsay. He remained there for nine years and, despite an unstable mental state and living in near poverty, produced more than half of his life’s work. Much of what he wrote during his Shetland years was shaped by his surroundings, the North Sea, stony beaches, vast open skies and the profound isolation he experienced on the island.

Inspired by MacDiarmid’s Shetland writings, I travelled to Whalsay and stayed in a small, secluded cabin. From there, I visited his cottage and undertook a circular walk around the island, making photographs in response to the same sense of isolation I felt within the expansive Shetland landscape.

Far From the Centre of Things was created as part of the MAP6 Shetland project. The work was exhibited at The Phoenix Gallery in Brighton, and later published in 2020 by Another Place Press.