Abandoned Beauty

BIPP member Susan Allan embarked on a project to capture landscapes that challenge conventional notions of beauty, focusing on abandoned and derelict sites set against stunning natural backdrops. Beautifully composed with expertly controlled tonality, the images demonstrate the natural beauty of light and nature against forgotten structures, creating scenes entrenched with narrative. In this piece, Susan reveals her process and motivation behind the project.

I began this project with the aim of creating images which would be a personal challenge for me, to capture landscapes which are not the usual interpretation of beauty but whose imagery evokes an immediate interest and draws the viewer in. It occurred to me that there are many beautiful landscapes, but equally many places which could be termed ‘ugly’ – abandoned and derelict sites, sometimes sitting within a stunning backdrop of hills and lochs. This juxtaposition was exactly what I wanted to capture, and so I began the project in early January this year to capture some winter scenes.

My first shoot at the abandoned Bogside Explosives Factory near Irvine was surprisingly difficult to find. Set in deep undergrowth, as with many of the sites I visited it was not signposted. The imagery on the What3Words app was really useful, clearly showing the buildings in their grounds near the golf course. Temperatures of minus 4 used two batteries in as many hours, but I was fortunate on the way back to be able to shoot the snowy mountains on the Isle of Arran, complete with a beautiful inversion layer over the Firth of Clyde; it is days like these that make landscape photography worthwhile.

SUSAN ALLAN

Abandoned Beauty

For my next trip to Loch Long, access to the site was much easier with a good path in from the main road. This was a particularly wet day; the mist did not clear from over around 100 feet for the entire morning. This provided me with a great backdrop to the ruins of the Torpedo Range sheds, highlighting the eerily abandoned atmosphere of the place. This shoot taught me a lot about how to really observe a site; to just wait and listen to the landscape tell its story before deciding when and where to shoot.

Riccarton Junction is an unusual old railway village in the middle of the Scottish borders, inaccessible by road, only reached by rail when the station was open prior to the Beeching cuts. The only way in for this shoot was to walk from a rural road for around ½ hour along the Forestry Commission road. I was fortunate on this day that the sun was out, providing a lovely afternoon light on the undergrowth of the old Stationmaster’s house in the foreground of the image. Shooting directly into the sun was a challenge, so for this image I placed a finger over part of the lens to avoid the glare, and this was edited out later. When in doubt – use what you’ve got to hand (in this case, literally)!

Abandoned Beauty

My penultimate shoot took place over the Easter week in Skye, where there are many abandoned places, however not all are as photogenic as the houses at Struan Ferry. I knew the moment I turned the car into this single-track road that this would be something special, with two ruined houses to choose from and the sun glistening on the water. This was a shoot where I knew that no matter what the weather, the landscape would be amazing.

And so to the last shoot – Tarlair Outdoors Pool, in Aberdeenshire. The sun came out mid-morning, softly lighting the greenery on the cliffs behind. While shooting at this site one of the locals told me this amazing place is soon to be renovated, thanks to Heritage Lottery Funding after many years of lying derelict. Work is due to commence later this year – so I got it into my Abandoned Spaces project just in time! I hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed creating them.

“I began this project with the aim of creating images which would be a personal challenge for me, to capture landscapes which are not the usual interpretation of beauty but whose imagery evokes an immediate interest and draws the viewer in.”