River Tales Project

Through studying photography, I found myself veering towards a more traditional representation of the landscape while using modern technology. I am combining a personal journey, through experiencing the landscape in its pure form and represent it as I see it. I focus on rivers, especially from source to sea, and how this journey has become a portal for me to engage with Nature, finding a meditative state through walking along and listening to the water, while recording the passage of time and personal identity.

This body of work started at a place close to me, but it has now expanded beyond borders. It visits the landscape with respect to folk tales, which connect with the element of water, in particular that of rivers. In this context, similarities were found within folk tales from Scotland and those of other countries, and whilst the perception of nature seems unique to different peoples, it may actually be very similar. During my exploration along different rivers in Aberdeenshire, I wondered whether I was ‘seeing’ the rivers in the same way, as people from a distant past were. So, I went on picking up new narratives, new experiences and challenges; just like the river does on its journey to the sea. Here, I create my own narratives, not particularly from folk tales, but from thoughts and feelings, that bring about the connection to the rivers, to the landscape, to nature. In many ways, I’m constructing my own, if disparate, folk tale.

River Tales Project will be presented as a handmade book for my final degree submission, a dummy can be viewed in PDF format on my website. By clicking on each image, you’ll be redirected to its web page for viewing large.