Carl Bigmore‘s A Curiosity of Uncertainty is a photobook and album inspired by, and made in, the Torridon Hills of the Scottish Highlands.
Carl writes:
The images and music explore the engulfing nature of the various mountain ranges in the area and their hallucinatory effect. As the tumultuous winter weather ceaselessly shifts, exploring these places can become disorienting in the most liberating sense. Caught within the grips of the elements there is a journey within the mountain beyond its surface…
The book incorporates Gaelic place names for some of the locations that have been photographed. These place names reveal an intimacy with the landscape that speaks to the deep connection local people have fostered with this land over centuries. While doing this research I found that some place names remain untranslated, for these places they become referred to as “a curiosity of uncertainty”. The idea that some locations remain a mystery resonated with how I feel about the landscape here. Geologically it is some of the oldest rock in the world (around 2 billion years old) and the weight of ancient time seems to seep from the earth. It is a landscape that humbles with its reframing of time and place.
In the summer of 2023, I found myself living on the edges of the Torridon Hills in a converted Portakabin. Using a mixture of field recordings, midi synth and a £30 nylon stringed guitar I spent the long summer days recording the 8 tracks that make up the album. They are ambient, meditative and melodic.
My hope is that, together, the book and album capture something of the beguiling effect this landscape has on my little passing consciousness.
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Visit Carl’s website, where you can find more of his work, here.
Listen to / buy ‘A Curiosity of Uncertainty’ via Carl’s Bandcamp or Bigcartel pages.