“Red Ice – White Ice” by Chris Wainwright

Sharp reds and blues contrast each other in a iceberg series titled “Red Ice – White Ice” by photographer Chris Wainwright. See the series below:

Chris Wainwright

Chris Wainwright

The start of a new academic year, as always full of enthusiasm for the year ahead, our first staff meeting starts in a few minutes, who has been up to what should be the first item on the agenda.

My summer began sailing through the Inner and Outer Hebredies on a tall ship, with a group of artists and scientists thinking about and talking about Climate Change. Called 'What has to be done' and organised by Chris Wainwright, it was one of the richest experiences of my life. A story of the trip will appear elsewhere but as a taster here is a picture of just one of the many islands we sailed past.

For photographers it was taken with my first serious digital camera, a Sigma Merrill DP2. A bizarre machine with some quite outstanding innovations but otherwise awkward to use.

To quote the press release :

"On 18 July 2013 a group of artists, scientists and cultural commentators will set sail from Oban, Scotland on the tall ship The Lady of Avenel, a 102 foot square rigged Brigantine, for a ten days tour of the Scottish Western Isles. The voyage will bring together a group of individuals from a wide range of disciplines, professions and organisations with a clear commitment to strategically profile a concern for our environment in relation to arts education curriculum and policy. Central to the experience of the voyage will be an opportunity to develop a strong network of influence that questions the key issues of sustainability, our environment and the increasingly urgent need to address and culturally respond to the dramatic effects of climate change."

And so on the afternoon of the 18 july we gathered on the north quay in Oban, under the careful supervision of the project initiator and leader Chris Wainwright and the expedition manager Hannah Bird, and under the watchful gaze of the astonishing McCaig's Tower. (Built between 1897 and 1902, conceived and designed by John Stuart McCaig, the tower was never completed and now contains a public park. As folly's go it take some beating.)