NICKI
GWYNN-
JONES FRPS
ORKNEY AND THE SIMMER DIM
I am a British freelance photographer battered. But in summer it does not get for Orkney’s infamous bonxies - great
living in Orkney, an archipelago of seventy dark at all. skuas - who would as soon simply disrupt
islands lying ten miles off the north east
life in the colony as snatch a chick to feast
coast of Scotland, at the point where the What a gift! Many artists come here for on. Bully boy birds…not a pretty sight. But
Atlantic Ocean meets the North Sea. Of the exceptional quality of the light, and I now the elegant terns are suffused by the
these sixteen are inhabited and the capital am entranced by the perpetual twilight, softest pink light and the scene turns to
city, Kirkwall, has a population of some or simmer dim as it is called here, that we magic before my eyes. This is the time
nine thousand. I live on the largest of the experience for a month or so either side of for an artistic image - gorgeous low light,
islands, known as Mainland, where we the summer solstice. slower shutter speeds, and the chance to
have some of the best-preserved Neolithic
sites in Europe, are world leaders in
It should be said that I really love my bed
capture the essence of these hero birds.
and I need plenty of sleep in order to avoid Eventually though, I manage to tear
the grumps…however this can prove a myself away and I drive east to Evie
challenge in high summer, even with black- Beach. It is 11.30 p.m. The north western
out blinds, so I decide to fully embrace sky glows deepest orange and the water
the simmer dim experience and stay up all of Eynhallow Sound is like glass. It is
night. The sun sets at around 10.30 p.m. at spectacularly silent apart from the distant
Living on the 59th parallel does not come this time of year and rises again at about 4 roaring of the tidal in-draught at Costa
without challenges; we are three degrees a.m. so I pick a night that looks clear and Head. A family of eider ducks comes out
of latitude north of Moscow and one set off to Birsay on the North West corner to play and behind me the north eastern
degree south of St Petersburg, however of the island, for an Atlantic sunset. sky is softest pink. Nearby is Gurness, an
renewable energy research, and have the
most northerly cathedral in Britain. Our
beef and scallops are world famous, we
have abundant wildlife and the islands are
rich in myth and folklore.
our seas are fed by the gulf stream,
meaning that our climate is relatively mild,
wet and very windy. Our winters are long
- the days can be as short as six hours and
the constant gales leave us scoured and
The arctic tern colony is never still. As
most of us are winding down for the night
they must be constantly delivering food
to their tiny chicks whilst watching out
iron age settlement and Viking cemetery,
and I realise with a sudden clarity that I
am sharing this moment with everyone
else across the ages who has stood and
watched this scene. I feel a moment of
intense connection.
Arctic terns at sunset
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