GOING SOLO
Taking to the road alone for a ‘mini’ tour of Scotland was a liberating experience for automobile photographer Amy Shore
Photographer Amy Shore explores Scotland with just her Mini for company
When automobile photographer Amy Shore decided to spend a few days between jobs on a whirlwind road trip around Scotland she deliberately chose to go it alone. Having packed up her beloved 1985 Austin Mini Mayfair she left her home in Leicestershire and headed north for her 1,600 mile, six day tour of Scotland passing through Glencoe, taking a ferry to Skye, exploring Eilean Donan Castle, and driving the iconic Bealach na Bà. ‘I stopped where I wanted, stayed where I wanted, ate where I wanted; it was quite selfish but I really enjoyed it.’
She documented her journey through a series of photographs capturing the bleak beauty of the area and the sense of solitude felt when journeying solo. The weather was what it ver y often is in November on the West Coast of Scotland: bleak. But that didn’t put Amy off. ‘If it had been sunny the photos wouldn’t have had the same eeriness to them. I felt it was far more dramatic with the weather the way it was. I was always working with the light because the time between sunrise and sunset is quite minimal in November.’
Ta king photos on a lone trip proved to be somewhat trickier than if a travelling companion was on hand but a few stops into the trip Amy had her method distilled down to a fine art. ‘Tr ying to take pictures of a car on a road can be a bit funny when you’re by yourself. I’d have to pull over, keep the car running, run out and up the verge get two frames of the car, then get back in again and carry on driving because I knew another car would be along in a minute. It was made even more tricky when the rain seemed to get heavier the further away I got from my car.
‘ The highlight of the trip for me was driving up, and then down again, on the Bealach na Bà. Tackling the hairpin bends in my Mini was great and if I had more time I would have gone up and down another couple of times just for fun.
‘ Hopefully I’ll be doing a similar trip in the future. My next plan is for my boyfriend and I to ride our motorbikes up roughly the same route. It’s our goal to live up north one day. Honestly, the minute we can move and retire there will be a dream come true.’