Shifting Perspective
‘Shifting Perspective’ is the name of a painting of mine. It is a snap-shot of a wave, honing in on the detail, taking a small piece of the sea and magnifying each particle and droplet. Artists tend to be adept at this; of taking something, whether it is an object or scene and examining them in a way they have never been looked at before. The finished article re-presented as a painting, a sculpture, a play or a song, after it has passed through the filter of the artist’s soul.
That has been my month in Caithness; taking the place as a whole and shifting my perspective. It began with a Sea Coast Tour boat trip and something I always love to do which is to journey out on to the sea. And even though I have lived in Wick 3 years now, skipper William Munro still managed to bring to my attention some local places that have managed to slip me by. By being out on the sea I was able to see the caves and the crags that I am normally walking over the top of. William introduced me to the tinker’s cave that lies on the south side, by the Trinkie. A cave that was frequently inhabited in the 19th century by people known as tinkers; so-called because of their work with tinned iron.
Days later, I couldn’t resist. I had to see that cave for myself and experience it first-hand. I picked a day when the rocks were dry (how the tinkers managed it on wet, stormy days I will never know) and I scrambled in. Once inside it was easy to imagine what it would have been like to live there.
The atmosphere was so dense with fire-side stories and lives lived that I could hear them and smell them. It was weird to be under the ground but seeing the sea and the coast with their eyes and looking out from within. I am sure, snug within the recesses of the cave, they would have seen the industrious fishing boats coming and going, laden with fish and they would have watched and waited for the storms to gather.
A trip to Lybster Harbour last weekend led to another change of perspective. Numerous times I have been to Lybster and climbed the cliff to look down on the harbour and photograph it from above, but this time I took the path around the top of the harbour and along the burn, to see the water charging down and under the bridge.
The view from this angle was just as spectacular and lending another perspective and that being one of engineering. Many years ago, that bridge would have been built to accommodate the need for increased traffic to and from the harbour. Normally when we see a place we are entranced by the main event, by the main view, but my photographic training has taught me to turn around and look for the small detail, see what is happening behind me.
Another thing I love to do is to look at the aerial shots of Caithness, seeing the rich tapestry that is this place. It reminds me of a patchwork quilt with its large, prominent pieces stitched together with the finer detail. From the air we see the mighty Duncansby Stacks, we see the castles, Thurso Castle, Sinclair Girnigoe, we see the river at Forss, we see Dunbeath Strath, we see the lochs, we see Loch More and Loch Yarrows. But it is only when we are closer to the ground that we will see the finer stitching, binding the patchwork together. The wells, the burns, the trees, the crofts, all as important as the larger pieces.
The Brethren Well at Lybster a poignant reminder that the landscape once supported people as far back as the sixth century, but only recently restored and memorialised. How much of this patchwork is still yet undiscovered, lying dormant, waiting to be brought back to prominence? Time will tell…
So now..What next? What other perspectives can I explore? I think there’s only one place left for me. It’s time to don a wetsuit, take some scuba lessons and take to the sea again!