30 July 2021

A lone walker on the Yellow Strand near Sligo, Ireland

I was pleased to print and ship this photograph to a client for a birthday present this month. In addition to selling prints of images I’ve already made, I am also available to be commissioned for a specific image, landscape or otherwise. So if there’s a special place you’ve always wanted a photograph of please do get in touch via email if you’d like to discuss rates and the photograph you have in mind. 

Yellow Strand is on the western tip of County Sligo. When you get to Sligo town, you have to keep going a bit further north and west, through Drumcliffe where the poet WB Yeats grave lies, and on down some windy lanes and tracks to get to the coast. I have family who live out in this part of Ireland and have fond memories of our times there. The beach was always a treat, even in cloudy weather. When we got cold, we would wrap up in a vivid array of multi-coloured, patterned towels and pretend to be towel camels in the dunes. You have to make the best of it as warm, sunny days are rare. There’s a reason the west coast of Ireland is called the Wild Atlantic Way – it can get quite blustery. 

A good walk blows the cobwebs away. I’ve often wondered what that phrase really means, and I suppose it relates to lethargy, that feeling of having sat doing nothing for a while, long enough for a spider to begin to construct a web. This photograph was made in winter on a Christmas-time visit, so we had to up warm for our walk along the beach. The tide was out, enhancing the feeling of isolation and emptiness. The low, golden sun gave it a magical feeling, but its warmth was rapidly fading. While we were not alone on the beach, the odd dog-walker passing us in the other direction, it certainly felt like we were out in the wilds. With renewed vigour, we returned to my uncle and aunt’s house, an extended country cottage with white-washed walls, surrounded by famers fields, for a cup of tea by the fire. 

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