Welcoming The Dawn
Weeks of solitude during the Covid-19 lockdown inspired photographer Mike Guest’s stunning new photography and film project
A lockdown project to capture the sunrise gave photographer Mike Guest a new lease of life
EVERY day for a whole month, Edinburgh-based photographer and film-maker Mike Guest took the same early morning journey. Rising from bed before dawn, he would stroll from his home in Portobello to the nearby beach, wade in and swim a short way into the sea – and then float in waist-deep water to wait and watch.
“Then it would suddenly happen,” Mike says. “I would see the sun pop up on the horizon. Of course, I knew the sun would rise each day but you don’t know what it will look like. I was amazed by how different each dawn looked.”
For Mike, it was a natural process to capture this new daily ritual on camera – and then also on film – before sharing the sunrise scenes on his social media channels.
He added his own ambient background music at first, before a sound engineer friend, Barry Jackson, added his musical input. Several Scottish musicians, including Colin Macleod and Julie Fowlis, created tracks, too.
Mike was stunned by the public response.
“The reaction to my photos and video was incredible. Many people got in touch to tell me how much they enjoyed the views and the daily film.
“I think it was because, at the time, most of the world was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic and people needed a way to satisfy an inability to travel and to see different places away from their homes. My sunrise views and big horizons attracted a growing following.”
The project, which Mike called Dawn Days, had taken form at a critically important time for the 40-year-old, too.
It had been many years – “probably decades,” Mike says – since he had spent much time on his own and in one place. When lockdown came in March, he was forced to abandon his exciting, globe-trotting work with outdoors brand Patagonia, to return to his flat. At the same time, his girlfriend went home to Slovenia.
“Everything came to a halt and I was stuck in my flat in solitude,” Mike says. “I was used to being busy, on the
I was amazed by how different looked” each sunrise
road, travelling worldwide, shooting photos and videos. I had just kept moving for years. I had not learned how to live on my own and deal with my thoughts.
“So there I was, in my flat, drinking too much, sleeping a lot and then, it all hit me like a ton of bricks. My tiny world started spinning out of control. I felt low thinking about tough times from the past and worrying about the things that might go wrong in the future.”
Fortunately, Mike has a group of close friends he could turn to for support, and he also sought help though Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
“I was able to phone my friends, although even that didn’t feel like enough contact at times because I like the company of people. But I was able to share how I was feeling with people who knew me.”
It was during one conversation with another photographer, Nick Pumphrey, from Cornwall, at the end of April, that the seed was sown for Dawn Days.
“I was chatting with Nick, who I know through surfing, and he said, ‘Do you know what? I think I’m going to swim out to sea every day in May, at dawn, at the blue hour, and shoot until the sun comes up.’
“I thought, ‘Wow. That is a great idea. I am going to do the same.’”
In Edinburgh, in May, getting up at dawn means getting up early. In fact, the nautical first light is even earlier than first light on land. Portobello lies on the shore of the Firth of Forth, which is part of the North Sea, and the water is typically very cold.
“I quickly realised I would need to be up very early, like 3.30am. This was an hour earlier than Nick in Cornwall. I also needed to wear a hooded wetsuit, plus neoprene boots and gloves to stay warm.
“But the sunrise shoot brought a new daily purpose. It gave me a mental boost to have something new and different to do. Within the first week I started to feel more energised and I could feel my mood improving.”
When Mike posted his photos and videos on Instagram and Twitter, he added a few words about how he was feeling.
“This emotional connection with the images of the dawn resonated with people. This is when Dawn Days became more of a mental health project.”
“Within the first week I started to feel more energised and I could feel improving” my mood
Mike also explains how Dawn Days brought him a fresh perspective on his own life and his mental health.
“There is a moment, when I am bobbing about in the water, just as the sun pops up and behind me I see a foreboding darkness, the darkness of the land, while ahead I see a beautiful brightness on the sea’s horizon.
“I realised that this is like life; the darkness behind you could be seen as the stresses and difficult times of the past, while the brightness ahead is you looking and expecting good things in the future. And there I am in the middle, in between the parallel lives of past and future.
“But actually, at that very moment, as a new day dawns I can simply be in the present. So many people, including mental health therapists, talk about how we should try to find some time to be in the moment, to take mindful stock of where you are right now, and this is how Dawn Days has helped me.
“I feel much calmer in my life and work. I feel like I don’t need to be perpetually on the move, running away from myself and my thoughts. Lockdown has brought a greater understanding of who I am.”
In turn, Mike hopes others will discover mental health benefits from the simple act of taking photos at dawn while in, or near, water.
“I have a vision that Dawn Days will be more than my photos and videos. Already other people are doing the same and they tell me it has helped them.
“I am also working on making a longer film of Dawn Days and I want this to be another platform to create a bigger conversation about mental health.”