THE amazing diversity, energy and colour of life in one of Scotland’s most remote communities has been captured in a stunning new collection of pictures.
The images from Harris in the Outer Hebrides include a shop where everything is sold using an honesty box – including lobster.
Other pictures feature a schoolgirl riding the UK’s closest relative to a wild pony on the dunes just outside her home, and a flock of Irn Bru-coloured sheep.
The stunning insight into the modern day life of those living in the Isle of Harris was captured by Edinburgh photographer Laurence Winram.
The 46-year-old was commission by the Harris Distillery, which is due to open this summer.
Laurence said: “It really is a unique place. It really does seem like a magical environment because it’s so remote. It feels more exotic than you would imagine.”
He continued: “There is a greater sense of connection with people because there is more reliance on each other.
“There is a trust and mutual respect that I got a sense of.
“The fact everybody knows, or knows of, each other means there is a good reason for trust.”
Among the scenes he photographed was Croft 36 – a local self service shop selling local produce and where you can get a lobster if you drop £10 into the honesty box.
Laurence’s tour guide was local crofter, and the production manager at the new distillery, Kenny Maclean.
“We’re very honest in Harris,” he laughed when asked about the lobster honesty box.
“You walk in, take what you want and walk out. Is there another shop in the whole world that sells lobster, langoustines and crabs with an honesty box?”
Work started on Harris Distillery in March last year and plans are underway to see the first batches of whisky and gin being produced on-site this year.
It will be the first-ever legal Scotch whisky distillery on the Isle of Harris.
The new single malt produced there will be called The Hearach, the Gaelic for an inhabitant of the island.
