The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
A lens on the glens
A BBC2 Scotland documentary being broadcast on Monday focuses on world-renowned landscape photographer Colin Prior. Michael Alexander spoke to him about his work
It’s so easy to whip out your smartphone these days to snap a picture of a sunset that is too beautiful to forget, or surreptitiously photograph a particularly impressive dish at a restaurant. With an estimated four billion camera phones on the planet and the average person taking at least 1,000 pictures a year, it should be no surprise that some of the results are actually pretty good.
Colin Prior, the world-renowned landscape photographer famed for his panoramic images of Scottish mountains, is the first to accept that technology has “democratised and deskilled” photography in ways unimaginable even a few years ago.
However, while luck can play its part, he argues there is still a large role for skill when it comes to identifying and composing a quality image – and that’s the case whether the photographer is using a smartphone or the professional kit he carries.
That process will be the focus of a new BBC 2 Scotland documentary on Monday night, which follows him into the mountains in search of the perfect shot.
The 59-year-old has spent a lifetime documenting the country’s most breathtaking scenery, often in the special light at dusk and dawn.
And he thinks nothing of returning to the summit of a mountain time and time again in order to capture the image he has in his head.
The process is “a bit like a military strike”, he tells The Courier.
“To know a mountain is to understand its rhythms and then become part of it,” he says.
“To photograph them successfully demands what the Arctic Inuit refer to as ‘quinuituq’ which translated means ‘deep patience’ – literally waiting hours for one second, or in my case, years for one second.
Fantastic light
“You want the light at your back to get fantastic light illuminating the landscape. Then, you are essentially waiting for that weather window – for the lighting and the colours to be just right.”
The hour-long documentary follows the 2014 BBC Scotland film Mountain Man, which showcased Colin working on location in both Scotland and the Karakorum mountains of Pakistan.
Monday’s programme is presented by Scottish mountain expert Cameron McNeish, who joins Colin in Letterewe, in the North-West Highlands, to see the lengths he goes to to get his shots.
The programme focuses on three Scottish mountains, including the iconic An Teallach – known as the blacksmith’s forge – where, at dawn or sunset, the sandstone buttresses glow an enigmatic red.
Here, Colin is joined by climber, geologist and explosives expert, Lord Cromartie, John Mackenzie. He also gets a lesson in the Gaelic place names of the area from local expert Clarinda Chant.
The film sets his work in the context of the great Scottish photographer, Robert Moyes Adam and Colin tries to imitate his classic view of An Teallach with a vintage 5x4 plate camera.
“Most people think summer is the best time to get the best photographs,” adds Colin, “but most of my photographs are taken between the equinoxes, when there is better light and more chance of snow.
Mild winter
“This was one of the challenges of this programme. It’s been such a mild winter this year. We did get snow eventually but it took until late February.”
Colin says he is still most at home in the North-West Highlands.
And being so immersed in nature has raised his awareness of the environmental challenges facing our landscapes and wildlife.
He is working on a new body of work, due for release in three years, which draws particular attention to the plight of birdlife –an area that has always interested him.
He adds: “I want to do something to raise awareness of the demise of our bird populations. I’m photographing broadleaf woodlands, sea cliffs, salt marshes and estuaries.
“It’s giving me an opportunity to go back to many of the places I’ve discovered en route to the mountains over the years. I’ve made mental notes of them.
“With my mountain work I feel I’ve largely ticked the boxes.
“But I now feel I want to use the reputation and visibility of my work and reputation to create more than just pretty pictures.
“I want to give something back by raising awareness of environmental issues.
“The general public have raised the bench mark in photography. But it’s up to professionals like myself to move the quality of the work forward.”
To know a mountain is to understand its rhythms and then become a part of it. COLIN PRIOR