The Great Wall of Bhaltos, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

I like to call this wall "The Great Wall of Bhaltos". Building dry stone walls is a craft and an art on the Outer Hebrides. This wall is a beautiful example of this land art. It crosses the Bhaltos Peninsula, which is owned by the Bhaltos Community Trust. The Bhaltos Community Trust was the first community trust that was founded to take over the community's crofting land on the Outer Hebrides, in 1998. It set an important example for other communities to follow suit in the comunity-based Scottish land reform movement.

Find out more about the Bhaltos Community Trust here:

https://bhaltostrust.co.uk/

This photo is part of the visual geography project "Cracks and Holes" which maps places and their stories on the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.

The Rock, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

I had walked to the end of the road. Past all the houses. Past Uig, Breanish and Mealista. I had seen the Giant’s Beach. The sun had set over the Atlantic. The only sound was the wind in the grass.

The photo is part of the visual geography project "Cracks and Holes" which maps places and their stories on the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.

The Giant's Beach, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

The Giant's Beach. This beach is right at the end of the road. I always wondered how these pebbles got onto that beach. Did they roll down the mountain? Did the sea wash them up on the shore? Did a giant play with them on the beach?

The photo is part of the visual geography project "Cracks and Holes" which portrays places and their stories on the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.

#blackandwhitefilm #visualgeography #shotonfilm #analogue #analoguephotography #isleoflewis #outerhebrides #scottishhighlands #Scotland #scottishlandscape #film

Stornoway Castle

Stornoway Castle, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, 2025

In the visual geography project "Cracks and Holes" I map places and their stories on the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Stornoway Castle was built by Sir James Matheson who bought the entire Island of Lewis in the 19th century. Matheson was a drug dealer. He made his fortune trading opium to China. When China attempted to stop the opium trade, Matheson convinced the British government to start the opium war against China. He evicted dozens of villages on the Isle of Lewis to establish hunting estates for the British elites. Organized crime was part of the British establishment. Scotland and particularly the Outer Hebrides were treated as other colonies of the British empire.

Shot on Kodak Tri-X400 film.