Travel

Puffins, peace and solo cycling: one photographer’s escape to the Hebrides

A month alone in a remote location led photographer Liz Seabrook to unexpected stillness, wild beauty – and to herself.

Just a casual Highland cow taking a rest on the damp sand below the road on Mull_Liz Seabrook_1
Just a casual Highland cow taking a rest on the damp sand below the road on Mull_Liz Seabrook_1

Many of us dream of breaking out of the rat race and escaping to somewhere peaceful and remote. For London-based photographer Liz Seabook, this became a reality when she took off a full month to travel around the Hebrides in Scotland, mainly by bicycle, and often wild camping along the way.

For a photographer who usually centres people in her work, being so remote and spending so much time alone was a real departure from the norm. “I like an excuse to look into someone elses world and see how it works and how other people live. I think I’m mainly telling other people’s stories, I don’t think my story comes into it an awful lot. Except for this trip, where it was just me on my own really for a month.”

The whole experience became much more unstructured than she had anticipated. Seabrook thought she might end up meeting people and documenting them as she went along, but what happened was something she describes as more akin to journaling with her camera. 

“I started it off thinking that I’d take portraits as I went along, of all the people that I met. And then I just didn’t – I just didn’t want to,” she says. Seabrook didn’t meet many people, and when she did meet some she opted not to break the enchantment by stopping to take a photo.

One of three hostels managed by the incredible Gatliff Trust in the Outer Hebrides This one is stationed at Berneray_Liz Seabrook_1

Photo: Liz Seabrook

12_ downhill on the Isle of Harris was a good thing_ it was much less well received the evening before with heavy legs en route to the night’s accommodation_Liz Seabrook_2

Photo: Liz Seabrook

The perfect fishing cabin nestled away on the west of Mull_Liz Seabrook_3

Photo: Liz Seabrook

Back on the mainland cycling down to Oban after a day on Lismore_Liz Seabrook_4

Photo: Liz Seabrook

Exploring the quiet lanes of Lismore_Liz Seabrook_5

Photo: Liz Seabrook

Adam enjoying the sun hiding in the sand banks of Calgary Beach, Mull after a morning of headwind_Liz Seabrook_6

Photo: Liz Seabrook

In the end, what she created photographically was a “visual diary”, documenting where she went, what she saw and what she was drawn to. “It was a bit of a challenge,” she says. “I was not sure what I particularly thought about. It was just like, well, I’m going along, so I’m going to document the landscape and what I see and what I do. It felt very informal and unstructured. I overthink stuff a lot. It felt almost like automatic writing.”

What she discovered was pristine, often empty landscapes, where wildlife roamed free. Seeing puffins in the wild was a particular highlight. “They’re just waddling around everywhere. They walk like little old men with their hands behind their backs and then they just go back down into their little holes in the ground.”

Just a casual Highland cow taking a rest on the damp sand below the road on Mull_Liz Seabrook_1

Photo: Liz Seabrook

The absolute joy of seeing puffins up close on the Isle of Lunga_Liz Seabrook_8

Photo: Liz Seabrook

No one to share the beach with on Col, but these cows and their calves_Liz Seabrook_9

Photo: Liz Seabrook

Good old ferry fry up en route to Col to fuel the legs_Liz Seabrook_10

Photo: Liz Seabrook

Taking in the panoramic views between sandwiches from the disused lighthouse signal station on Isle of Erraid, Mull_Liz Seabrook_11

Photo: Liz Seabrook

The view from bathing in a quiet pool in Allt Daraich, the opposite side of Glen Sligachan to Skye’s famous Faerie Pools_Liz Seabrook_12

Photo: Liz Seabrook

On Skye, where she spent several days, Seabrook was able to bed in and explore Glen Sligachan. “I could feel the spaciousness a little bit more,” she says. It’s a place, says Seabrook, where a person on their own can get away “to find space and to find some room to breathe and explore and hike and swim”. The water is pristine – if a little cold. “There are places that you just look into the water and up until about three meters you can see straight down into it.”

Another favourite shot was created when she went right to the end of the island. She saw a gate open onto a field with a path across it. With the route calling her, Seabrook followed her curiosity and was rewarded with a pristine white sand beach with gentle waves. “I was like, have I died? Maybe this is what heaven looks like. It was just perfect.”

Time and Tide Bell at Bosta Beach, Isle of Lewis_Liz Seabrook_13

Photo: Liz Seabrook

Finding peace on Iona after pitching up the tent, as the day tourists empty back out to neighbouring Mull_Liz Seabrook_14

Photo: Liz Seabrook

Slow travel means more time to notice the patterns and intricacy of nature_Liz Seabrook_15

Photo: Liz Seabrook

Looking back across the bay of Oban back to Kerrera_Liz Seabrook_16

Photo: Liz Seabrook

The graphic lines of the ferry contrasting with the soft edges of the Hebridean hills_Liz Seabrook_17

Photo: Liz Seabrook

Chasing back across Mull for a roast before the ferry_Liz Seabrook_18

Photo: Liz Seabrook

Not to be too wafty, but being at the standing stones of Calanais on Lewis on my own, not too far from the solstice felt like pure magic_Liz Seabrook_19

Photo: Liz Seabrook

The intimidatingly beautiful Cuilins as seen from Glen Sligachan, Skye_Liz Seabrook_20

Photo: Liz Seabrook

Glamaig, Skye Not accessible if only non-cycling footwear available is a pair of Tevas with waterproof socks_Liz Seabrook_21

Photo: Liz Seabrook

For the majority of the trip Seabrook travelled by bicycle, but reflecting back she thinks this may have taken her past some places too fast. “A town’s still gone in five minutes if it’s a small inland town. And so there’s a part of me that wants to go back and walk the Hebridean Way rather than ride it so I can do it even slower and engage even more.”

And while Seabrook considers her next visit, she encourages others to do the same – especially solo-travelling women. “It’s super safe. And if it feels like something you want to do, do it – and don’t worry, I just left my bike leaning up against signposts fully loaded with all my camping stuff and electronics and things, and no one ever touched it.”