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víderni

It means ‘a land of distant views’ in Icelandic. Whether you look across the sandurs, the vast sandy plains formed by glacier meltwater, or lagoons choked with broken icebergs…

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crofters

There must be few places left in the UK where the direction from which the wind is blowing still matters, but North Uist is surely one of them. Here, watching the 6 o’clock news weather forecast becomes an almost mystical experience. This is especially true during the winter months, when the weather forecast brings a natural conclusion to a crofter’s working day. You watch and pay attention to what the weather presenter has to tell you, for it will determine what you do the next day. You pay particular attention to the wind, how strong it is and where it blows from. The  mighty Hebridean wind can call off school,  prevent you from buying your essentials from the nearest grocery shop and even force to call off the burial of a recently deceased islander.

So you watch, devotely and without the slightest cynicism, to what they have to tell you in the weather forecast, for if you’re a crofter the wind will be one of the many natural events which keeps reminding you of your strong connection with the land.

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impressions of Estii

Never figured out exactly why I wanted to go to Estii, Estonia. Not sure why that had to happen in the middle of the winter either…

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the clock shop

’1/2″ chicken wire. Gold glitter decorating spray. 1960”s kitchen cabinet hinges. Potatoes. Tea…

WildPlaces_20WildPlaces_19WildPlaces_18Outer Hebrides for Visit Britain.WildPlaces_16Midnight sun near Hammerfest. Lapland, Norway.Aurora borealis near Cunovuoppi. Lapland, Norway.WildPlaces_13WildPlaces_12Lammanalaugar, Iceland.WildPlaces_10WildPlaces_09Drought in northern Spain.WildPlaces_07WildPlaces_06WildPlaces_05Early morning near Viados. Pyrenees, Spain.WildPlaces_03WildPlaces_02WildPlaces_01

wild places

The photographs in this gallery were taken in wild, remote environments. Being in wilderness is a multisensory experience. Out there, in wild places, we feel totally immersed in the landscape. We smell the dryness in the air, or the moisture in the ground. We hear our own footsteps crunching untrodden ground underneath, or the gurgling noise of the stream we are about to cross. We feel the wind on our face, the sand blasting our clothes, or a sudden drop in the ambient temperature.

The photographs on this site are an attempt to translate my experience of being out  there and convey that sense of excitement and awe that we feel when we travel in unfamiliar and wild places.

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holga homescapes

I have been in the UK for nearly 16 years now. 16 years minus 7 months, to be precise. These are the 7 months I spent in an emotional no-man’s land…

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Tohono O’Odham

I ended up spending a few days in the Tohono O”Odham reservation by pure accident. I was travelling south from Phoenix towards the Sonoran Desert, where I intended to spend a few days in solitude…

bog_09bog_08bog_07World Bog Snorkeling Championship, Wales.World Bog Snorkeling Championship, Wales.Globalisationbog_03bog_02World Bog Snorkeling Championship, Wales.

bog snorkelers

A wet and cold summer mid afternoon. Someone is just emerging from a deep muddy ditch that serves as a convenient training pool. This is Llanwrtyd Wells, the home of the Bog Snorkelling Championships. There isn’t a shortage of bog in mid Wales, and the flat-as-a-pancake boggy field just outside Llanwrtyd, criss-crossed with deep leats, is the ideal place for the event.

There must be something in it because regular participants from all over the world come year after year to have the opportunity to snorkel in 10-degree cold chocolate water. Mind you, considering how much it rained the day I took these pictures the bog was probably the driest place to be anywhere near Llanwrtyd.

I won’t go as far as saying that I was tempted myself but there is an uncanny allure to the whole exercise, no matter how pointless and surreal it may seem.