Fractured Whispers /
In the ancient Celtic and Atlantic rainforests of the west of Scotland, the sense of time feels altered. These are places where light filters slowly through dense canopies, where weather settles into the land, and where the boundary between history, myth, and lived experience feels unusually thin.
Fractured Whispers explores these endangered rainforest fragments as spaces of memory and imagination — landscapes shaped not only by ecology, but by centuries of folklore, storytelling, and belief. Walking through these moss-laden forests, I became increasingly aware of a presence beyond the purely physical: fleeting forms, faces, and suggestions emerging from bark, shadow, and stone.
The work is not about illustration or fantasy, but about perception — moments where the ordinary briefly becomes charged, and the imagination is invited to participate.
Process
The images in Fractured Whispers are realised as gum bichromate prints, a slow, hand-made photographic process that allows for layered, painterly interpretation. Many of the pigments used are foraged directly from the forest floor, creating a material connection between image and place.
Through this process, each print becomes a meeting point between photograph and object — bridging the tangible and the intangible, the seen and the unseen.
Recognition
Fractured Whispers was featured in a 12-page article in Studies in Photography magazine, exploring the work in depth.
→ Read the full article here
The series was also selected for inclusion in the international exhibition The Art of Gum Bichromate, curated by Diana H. Bloomfield.
“Such a compelling image and beautiful print.”
— Diana H. Bloomfield, Photographic Artist & Curator
Each image in Fractured Whispers is accompanied by a short mythic text drawn from folklore and imagination.
→ Read the stories behind the images
Further Reading & Learning
→ Explore Gum Printing Tuition
→ Read what curators and artists have said about this and other works
The images below are the original digital captures for this series. Gum prints and limited edition giclee prints are available to buy.
