Arasaig (Safe Place) stems from a period of research across the Highlands and Northern Isles of Scotland. The title draws inspiration from an interpretation of the Gaelic name Arasaig, associated with the idea of a "safe place". During my journey, I asked the people I met what they felt most attached them to the place they lived. Before travelling, I expected their answers to revolve around the beauty of the landscape. Instead, the response I heard most often was remarkably simple: "It's a safe place."
That answer became the thread connecting the entire project. Rather than trying to define what a safe place is, I found myself wondering what this expression could really mean. Is a place safe because it is free from human violence? Because it offers shelter from the forces of nature? Because churches and places of worship provide a sense of refuge? Or because it allows us to feel connected to the landscape, giving us a sense of belonging and somewhere to return to?
Travelling through these landscapes, I encountered a place where the sea, the wind, the rocks and the ever-changing light constantly remind us of the power of nature and the vulnerability of human life. At the same time, the widespread presence of churches, cemeteries and other traces of spirituality speaks of a deeply human need to seek protection, order and meaning, even in places most exposed to the elements.
This work does not attempt to answer these questions. Instead, the photographs are my way of approaching this tension, observing how the force of the natural world and the human need to create places of refuge, both physical and spiritual, coexist within the same landscape. For me, Arasaig has become a space of inquiry, where the idea of a safe place remains open, suspended between personal experience and collective memory.
