Trail Magazine - Dark Skye

When it comes to capturing haunting outdoor images, photographer Alex Boyd knows it’s all about chemistry. Alex’s full portfolio will be on show at the Kendal Mountain Festival in November.

WORDS DAN ASPEL PHOTOGRAPHS ALEX BOYD

I f you went to last year’s Kendal Mountain Festival, you’ll recognise the image immediately. That’s because the dark, Gothic shot of the Isle of Skye’s Stack of Coire Faoin won the event’s fiercely contested photo competition, beating off some pretty spectacular rivals for the crown.

But that’s only half the story, because photographer Alex Boyd isn’t your average snapper, and his unique style – also abundant in the main image of Skye’s iconic Old Man of Storr – has more in common with an episode of Breaking Bad than it does modern photography. “I’m using an old process called ‘wet plate collodion’,” the 29-year-old Scot told Trail.

“What that means is that you make and develop the images on the spot using pieces of glass to produce the negative. You take all your chemistry up there – your silver, your ether, your potassium cyanide – and sit up on the hill in your tent working. Once you start pouring chemicals you’ve got about 15 minutes until they dry. You expose, make your picture and then have to develop it using your hands, in all kind of conditions. You’ve got to be very focused. The chemicals are not only temperamental, they’re also dangerous if you don’t use them correctly.

Some make you light-headed, some can blind you. Potassium cyanide killed a lot of Victorian photographers. It’s clear why when you use it: it gives off [highly poisonous] hydrogen cyanide gas.” This would be difficult enough to manage when you’re rested, but Alex is often “drained and beat” after carrying up to 30kg into Britain’s high places, and he sometimes starts his shoots “with hands trembling from exhaustion”. The weight comes from the great 150-year old lenses (traditionally lugged about by mule) and modern plates of glass needed to develop the images.

The camera body, however, is surprisingly slight. “I’m using a ‘bellows’ camera from the 1890s,” says Alex. “It was made in the States and was a field camera, so it has a history of being taken out into the wild. It actually weighs about the same as a modern DSLR, and is made from a lightweight rosewood. Because it’s designed for the outside it doesn’t expand in the elements, so it doesn’t cause me problems; it’s really attuned to the Scottish mountains. There are no mechanical parts that are going to seize up. I’ve photographed out on Rannoch Moor in the depths of winter, and digital cameras have failed because the cold destroys the batteries. These old cameras always work all the time.” Indeed, Alex’s kit produces big, grain-free pictures typical of a top-end modern camera. Once Alex is in place, he throws the camera’s dark cloth over his head, and views the landscape in the inverted, shadowed form so familiar to his 19th century counterparts. “You’ll only make five or six images in a day,” says Alex, “and only two that you’re happy with.

Then you’ve got to bring them down off the hill. I package them very, very carefully – sometimes I’ll put them in a pack, which I’ll then cradle. I’ve had glass crack on me at the bottom of the hill... heartbreaking.” Coming from a museum background, Alex’s initial motivation in making this style of images was to learn how to look after them better. But wet plate collodion has since gripped his creative imagination, in many ways because of its subtle imperfections. “The Victorians would crop in over the edges,” he says, “and you do tend to get a lot of artefacts on the images.

They can be caused by midges sticking to the plate, or dust. So when you’re bringing them down the hill you’re bringing part of the landscape with you. These distressed marks are evidence of my hands moving in that landscape, and they can be quite unpredictable. You can even create these effects by pouring or handling a certain way. It gives me a lot more control over the aesthetic I want. With the Highlands, when you’re working alone and you’re exhausted it can be quite oppressive at times. That Gothic quality is what I try to bring through.

You can download the full interview with images here.