What are three life moments that made you who you are today?

I went to film school when I was quite young and during my second year I became interested in photography. The immediacy of it really stood out to me at the time, especially coming from the the slower pace of filmmaking. I found myself spending more time shooting photos and began to take my practice seriously, that moment changed the direction of my work completely and led me down a different path.

I’ve also been lucky to travel and live abroad. I grew up in a small town in Scotland so it’s been a privilege to live in different places and experience new people and ways of life. I think that travel has played an important part in my understanding of the world.

Lastly, it’s less of a single moment and more of a gradual process but being able to make a living from my work has been an important milestone. The first time I realised that I was supporting myself through photography was a surreal feeling.

Who or what is inspiring you these days? What’s shaping your thinking?

Recently I’ve been enjoying the writing of Nan Shepherd on her life in the Cairngorms in Scotland in the early 1900’s. Her perspective on Scotland and it’s landscape is really refreshing and it’s given me an itch to spend more time back home and get out in the hills.

I’ve also found myself drawn back to the outdoors. Living in the Netherlands, the lack of wild outdoor spaces has been a big a change for me. My work often keeps me in the city and I find that after long stretches spent there I have to spend time in nature to reset.

Do you feel you are more instinctual or intentional when you create?

Generally I have an instinctual approach to image making. I try to carry a camera at all times and shoot as much as possible, later I notice patterns connecting the images and often a project emerges from that. In saying that, over the past year I have actively been trying to be more intentional in my way of working by developing projects that focus on a location or an idea. Limpid Blue is the first project to come from a more deliberate approach.

The trip that informed Limpid Blue emerged from a desire to reconnect with your heritage, specifically your mother’s homeland. Did your experience satisfy or complicate the sense of connection that you were searching for?

Before this trip I had never visited Costa Rica. I didn’t have a clear understanding of the country, only what I had heard through family stories. My mother put me in contact with her friends and family in San José and while I was there I stayed with my uncle. Although we hadn’t met in person before, I felt at home and he became an important part of the project from giving advice on what to check out and even giving me tours of the city during my first days there.

The project became a bit of a talking point within our family and they were keen to help out where they could. My great-uncle provided the directions that appear throughout the book and my aunt helped with the translation. It was interesting to see how each of them interpreted the project and small contributions like this helped connect threads in my family that I wasn’t aware of before.

Is your use of photography as a kind of mapping or personal navigation (a way of orienting oneself) specific to this project? 

Walking has always been part of my practice and using the image as a form of mapping has played a role subconsciously. Some of my favourite work has transpired when I’ve got lost or taken a different route out of curiosity. While working on Limpid Blue I enjoyed how navigation in Costa Rica tied into my own practice. I would spend the day walking around, sometimes in circles or taking wrong turns, which led to discovering some areas that normally, as a visitor, I wouldn’t have been aware of. I think what draws me to photography is that it creates curiosity in my approach and enables me to learn from the landscape around me.

What do you want people to think or feel as they flip through the pages of your book?

When working on the sequence I wanted the viewer to get a sense of being in an unfamiliar place and having to build their own way of looking at the world. Some of the images in the book are quite abstract so you really have to spend time with them to understand what you’re looking at.

I wanted to create a tactile experience, adjusting the pages to get a better look at the image the same as you would when unfolding a map. I hope a sense of playfulness comes through in the work. San José is an overwhelming yet exciting city and it was important to have element of lightness to the final selection to reflect that.

Can you think of one piece of good advice someone gave you, and who said it?

One piece of advice that has stayed with me is that you have to make your own luck. I can’t remember who said that to me specifically, but it stuck and is something I try to apply in my life. Working as an artist or creative, you have to take chances, put yourself out there and get your work in front of people.

What is one thing you want to accomplish this next year?

I touched on this earlier but I want to spend more time in Scotland and get started on a long term project over there. Having spent time living away from home I feel that I can go back with a renewed perspective and explore themes around the landscape and culture which weren’t as obvious to me while living there. Ultimately, I would like to develop this new project into a book. I really enjoy the process of creating publications. In my opinion, it’s the best way to present photographic work.

What is one thing you hope to accomplish in your lifetime?

That’s a big question. To be honest, I would be happy if I can continue to make a living from photography, working on books and travelling.

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