Harris in the Springtime | Chris Swan
I’ve just returned from a week on Harris. I don’t know what it is, but something about Harris speaks to me. It has grabbed me and when I’m not there I find myself thinking of it like no other place I’ve been before. When I’m back in Glasgow I find myself daydreaming about the ferry pulling into Tarbert, imagining the promontories of rock either side ushering me back to the island. Retracing the journey west over the barren interior of the island and the view opening up towards Taransay across bands of shining sea. Thinking of that sudden reveal at Luskentyre as the dunes part and Traigh Rosamol blends from sand to sea to mountain. It’s got me. Harris is not a place I can return to very often, maybe once a year if I’m lucky. So when I’m there, I’m aware of an almost desperate need to appreciate the landscape, to soak it in and remember it. I suppose my photography is always driven by this, however it is different on Harris and feels tinged with sadness for some reason as I know I will only be there for such a short period. I often feel similar emotions in the Highlands – I know I’ll never really belong there, I don’t have the family connections or any ties to the land. It’s not my home. But when I’m not there I feel homesick for it………
Source: christopherswan.co.uk