Wildlight: From the Mist
Wildlight: From the Mist
From the Mist is a sub-project within Wildlight, my ongoing black-and-white fine art wildlife photography series exploring the relationship between wildlife and the landscapes they inhabit.
Created at RSPB Scotland Troup Head during a day of dense fog and persistent rain, this body of work focuses on northern gannets as they emerge from and disappear back into the mist surrounding the seabird colony. The ever-changing conditions transformed the landscape, often reducing the cliffs and sea to a blank expanse of white, leaving only fleeting glimpses of birds passing through the fog.
Through a high-key black-and-white approach, From the Mist seeks to capture the atmosphere and transience of these encounters, revealing moments where the gannets appear almost ghost-like as they move through an environment suspended between visibility and obscurity.
In From the Mist, the fog becomes more than a backdrop—it is an active part of the image. It obscures, reveals, and shapes the way the birds are seen, creating photographs that exist between presence and absence. By stripping away much of the surrounding landscape, attention is drawn to the form, movement, and character of the gannets themselves.
This project reflects my wider interest in creating wildlife images that evoke emotion and atmosphere as much as they document a species. The resulting photographs invite viewers to pause and consider the fleeting nature of the moment, where both bird and landscape are constantly changing and never fully revealed.
Northern gannets are among the most remarkable seabirds found around the British coastline. Built for life at sea, they are capable of spectacular plunge-dives, folding their wings and entering the water at high speed in pursuit of fish. Despite their size and power, they possess an elegance in flight that is unmistakable, effortlessly gliding along coastal updrafts and navigating some of the harshest marine environments.
At Troup Head, thousands of gannets gather to breed on the cliffs, creating one of Scotland's most impressive wildlife spectacles. Within the fog, however, this vast colony is reduced to fleeting encounters—individual birds emerging silently from the mist before disappearing once more. These moments reveal not only the beauty of the species, but also the resilience and adaptability that have allowed gannets to thrive in a landscape shaped by wind, sea, and weather.