Of Skin & Rock - Vol.1
DORSET
ENGLAND
I grew up climbing the Welsh Snowdonian mountains with my dad and uncle; I can remember the mix of intense fear and exhilaration on that cold and dark day where a ten-year-old Fin scaled a 150ft cliff face without ropes alongside my farther – wanting to make him proud. The motivation driving me all those years ago is experienced by every climber and boulderer when on the rock – it is the ecstasy that draws us junkies back whenever we can afford the time.
In an age where so many hobbies and sports are incredibly accessible, why do we choose to climb? Why travel so far along rugged terrain with heavy bags to scale cliff-tops or mammoth boulders, destroying our hands in the process and, eventually, injuring ourselves. In fact, during the project there were two injuries among my subjects – one requiring surgery. But this question of why is one that I kept finding myself coming back to. As a climber and a photographer, I was in a unique position to explore this through the lens, and so I have spent over 2 years walking out onto the boulder-fields with my kit, sleeping under boulders or in pillboxes, and climbing as much as I possibly could. Bouldering has always been a big part of my life, but it feels as though I have uncovered a far deeper and intimate side to it during the production of this project, and this experience has been utterly amazing.
"Ross was another one of those amazing people that came to me through climbing. Selfless, kind, and with an absolute passion for the sport. This was our third climb together along with Fraser; it was a cold, dark winters night and we were out to climb something HARD. Distant walkers would have spotted three small figures huddled under Terrace boulder - head-torches illuminating the condensation of our breath.
These trips form strong bonds, perhaps it's the vulnerability? - The bare chests and physical limits pushed. Or maybe it's the time you spend with often likeminded people? A couple of weeks after that night, Ross fell on a route's final hold and tore his bicep muscle from his shoulder, resulting in surgery, scars, and a long journey of recovery. The draw to Portland and nights like this one didn't leave him, and six months after his fall, he was back on the walls."
-Fin MacMillan
"When you combine sport, adventure, and problem solving, you get bouldering. One can not compare bouldering and climbing, as one does not compare oranges and apples. Bouldering demands the absolute physical limits of the persons involved, with the addition of perfect coordination and raw strength. This is what attracts me to bouldering, and keeps me returning to Portland at the weekends despite the shredded hands, numb feet and treacherous approaches. It takes a certain type of someone to actually want to put themselves through pain and suffering on their only days off each week. There is this undeniable sense of satisfaction when you finally unlock the beta for a boulder problem, and even more so when those intricate moves on the rock are achieved and you finally top out the boulder. Friends for life are born when you explore the boulder fields, and stand next to a boulder in the blistering wind, where you and fellow dirtbags encourage each other to send that project! The bouldering, and even climbing community is like no other. There is no prejudice, judgement or competition, but more of a bunch if like minded individuals who share a love for…well…rocks! Bouldering isn’t a sport, it’s a lifestyle. A lifestyle I have been completely engrossed in since I first grasped those plastics holds nearly 3 years ago. That is why I choose to boulder."
-Fraser Long
As I made more and more of these trips, I found myself coming back to the same question: Why do these people spend their precious time off work driving out to remote and rugged places to tear their hands apart in the cold? Of all the hobbies they could do, why boulder? This question quickly became the subject of the project – I didn’t just want to document the act, but instead uncover their motivations.
The images directly above and below were from a particularly cold December night, climbing until midnight in -1 degrees before dragging our pads under Vandal Boulder to sleep. Other times we stayed in old pill boxes or just under the stars. There was a beauty in this lifestyle once it had been fully embraced and I would frequently long to be carrying the weight on my back while walking to the train with a mind full of the adventure I was going on.
I felt that as a photographer and a climber, I had a unique perspective from which to shoot. The 5x4 camera and flash heads were always an alien object within the boulderfields. Even when I was with people I had climbed with for years, my camera’s presence left every shoot as a conflict between the insider and the outsider. While at my locations I would climb myself, consider different shots while on the rock, and take turns working on projects while setting up my frame. The slow process dictated by large format systems allowed my subjects to quickly see this strange object as another element within the rugged landscape we found ourselves in - by the time I was ready to take their picture, the camera was no longer alien.
One evening, having set up a flash-lit frame looking at Lip Boulder with shutter cocked and dark-slide removed, I gave the shutter release cable to my climbing partner Fraser Long who decided the moment to photograph the scene. Interestingly, Fraser didn’t choose the most photogenic moment or body position but instead when I was climbing hardest or on the trickiest move. This was repeated throughout the project with different climbers controlling the shutter of the frame that I had constructed. The relationship between climber and photographer, or insider and outsider, became an important relationship in the production of the project and reinforced that these images are of climbers by climbers.
"Bouldering is an addiction – an obsession. The bigger the climb, the bigger the hit. And every climbing junkie wants that cocktail of adrenaline, fear, and euphoria flowing through their junkie veins. Indoor bouldering is exploding at the moment – everyone has a friend who climbs. But, for me at least, whatever you do in the climbing gym is just practice for the rock face. That place where the gym goats flock each weekend to chip away at their projects, pushing hard to unlock their next move and get another dose of adrenaline.
It’s a powerful feeling – one hard to find anywhere else. As you climb on top of your completed boulder, feel the elevated breeze cooling your tired skin and the heat of the sun or the glow of the stars. That first deep breath you take feels never-ending as you pulsate with a euphoric thrill.
You don’t get this in an indoor gym or playing golf – and so I boulder."
-Fin MacMillan
I wanted to ground the images and the project within that question of ‘why?’ And so began to work with the subjects to create short statements about their motivations for bouldering. It was important to me that the subject had more power over how their images and how the overall message was presented to the viewer.
The above and following images were captured during a spontaneous trip the The Agglestone in the Purbecks. I met three boys working their own projects and as the sun set we climbed together, spurring each other on and offering advice. For me, this illustrates one of bouldering’s biggest assets: the camaraderie. Around half of the subjects depicted in the project where people that I met then and there on the rocks, a further quarter I met previously through climbing – but a mutual love for the sport and those who do it allowed me to meet and capture a part of this amazing community.
"When asked - ‘Why do you boulder?’
I can quickly answer - ‘Because I enjoy it!’
This doesn’t satisfy everyone.
Let’s rephrase the question - ‘Okay so what motivates you to boulder?’
Also, an easy one to answer. There are many factors; getting stronger;
finishing a project or simply spending time with friends, to name a few.
These extrinsic motivations drive us every day.
‘What if you were to take those away?’
Imagine a cold January day on the Dorset coast. A crisp northerly is blowing.
My numb fingerprint-less digits are flicking through the tatty pages of my
guidebook. I sit on my mat looking up at a limestone boulder the size of a
small minibus. There are no new routes for me to try here, but I am here,
nonetheless. With the nearest soul over a mile away, perhaps a fly on
the wall would consider my original question.
‘Why do you boulder?’
What you have left are your intrinsic motivations.
It’s that inherent pleasure without need for reward that makes it special and
keeps me coming back; hopefully, for many more years to come."
-Josh Lightfoot
"Climbing started for me in the gym, as a way to see out the dark wet winters, while still trying to be active and sociable. It quickly became much more than that, soon the days got longer, and we ventured outside, spending time in Portland or at the cliff top of St Aldhelm’s head. By that time, a switch had happened within me, where the fun colourful climbs in the gym became a side show to the real rock – albeit still a very fun, challenging side show.
The actual climbing on rock, however, is only half the story. The true enjoyment of climbing outside is spending time out in wonderful, wild places with wonderful (and wild) people. There is no better feeling than that of ‘stealing’ a weekday evening
- starting work early, to leave early, head out to the rock to climb, share a pot of sausage pasta and a celebratory beer. That night at Agglestone rock was one such ‘stolen’ evening.
You could easily mistake me as an amateur meteorologist, since I’m constantly checking the forecasts, seeking out the most optimistic one, hoping to get such an evening or day climbing outside.
In some twisted full circle, I’m now looking forward to the winter to try and squeeze the most friction out of the rock in the cold crisp conditions."
-Cameron Findler
Climbers often have a specific body-type, lean and toned. This is a direct result of the rock on which they climb, and I quickly found that the black and white film, flash lighting, and perspective of the images I was creating blended the skin and the rock together noticeably. The contrasty shadows and darks of the hair looked like the same shadows cast on and by the rock face. This effect was only exaggerated by the high-contrast darkroom printing that I used on every image in the series.
There's no one comment that should accompany these pictures. In the same way, there's no one
reason I climb. One day my cut-up hands might fill me with accomplishment, the feeling of "I
worked my arse off", but another day they'll simply remind me of how far I've still got to go.
In that regard, it's not so different from anything you volunteer your time to, but it's a
simple display of my effort. When everything else in life seems so complicated, bouldering
boils down to "can I get from the bottom of this rock to the top of this rock", and no one's
going to make that happen but me.
On that note, if there's one other thing, it's the community. Never have I met a group of
people so accepting, so diverse, and so willing to help. They make being cynical a little bit
harder. Whilst only my hands can take me from bottom to top, oftentimes, their support helps
me realise I'm capable in the first place.
So why boulder? Because you CAN, and we'll make sure you know it too.
-Kacey Snow
With the deadline of my postgraduate degree drawing closer, I knew that my time left on the project was limited. The long walks with my 45kg pad and the late nights had taken a toll, and I was unsure how long I would continue to make these trips once the motivation of my MA had been removed. This was certainly on my mind during my final days in Portland, and, perhaps, passivised the images I was creating.
I met tom in Portland – he had been one of those anonymous faces at the Project climbing gym and, at first, I felt some trepidation towards me. As per usual, I had my large format camera and portable flash heads which stuck out like an unsubtle saw thumb in the Cutting’s landscape.
We climbed all morning and then, in a personal first, I saw Tom slide a cigarette out of a Honeyrose box and light it up. He said the falling ash burning his skin gave him an adrenalin rush - forcing him to climb harder.
After he saw me complete some tricky climbs, his demeanour towards me changed. He no longer saw me as an outsider, I was a part of us, and I was able to take his portrait.
-Fin MacMillan.
"Climbing makes me feel like a kid again. Always striving for the most challenging thing to climb, but with structure this time, and a sense that incremental progressions are improving so many aspects in my life. It is a culmination of
3 of the most important health focuses, the social, the mental and the physical, and since starting to climb I have yet to feel the same sense of satisfaction and challenge that you get from climbing.
I have been climbing less than a year but can already see that the foundations have been set for this to be a hobby and lifestyle of mine for the rest of my life, with the contagious nature already spreading around my social circle and becoming a healthy change to the lives of myself and the people around me. As someone who used to be an avid gym goer with the mentally exhausting goal of a certain body shape, to now somebody who wants the climbing strength regardless of the look that is complemented with it, climbing has become this mentally invigorating addiction, where the only mental set back
is the disappointment when you can’t get yourself to a climbing gym or the great outdoors. Climbing is here to stay in my life, and I hope to spread the climbing bug on to whomever I can, in the hope that they find the same social, mental and physical benefits that I have done."
-Harry Shepherd
"It’s quite hard to pinpoint any standout aspect of bouldering that makes it so appealing to
me, but I think most of it lies in the fact that it’s such an inherently human pursuit. Forging
new friendships and building on old ones. Challenging mental and physical boundaries. Finding
windows of peace and solitude. Appreciating the wonder of nature. Not taking life too seriously.
I think these are all things that we should seek to practice and make time for in one way or
another, and for me it feels like bouldering actually encourages and provides a lot of these
elements which contribute towards a truly rich life, without ever even meaning to.
It would also be remiss of me to not mention the remarkable sense of community and respect among
boulderers. I’m not sure you’ll find another sport that so naturally brings together folks from
all walks of life without any time for judgement or pretentiousness. Bouldering doesn’t care
about the colour of your skin, whether you’re big or small, or whether it’s your first or your
500th time doing it; we’re all just human beings trying to climb up some rocks at the end of the
day."
-Jack Manners
And so, the project came to an end; I made two subsequent trips with my Profoto flash and 5x4 camera after handing in my MA work, but in the weight and approach of winter led me to leave my camera gear when travelling to the Dorset crags. In March 2024, nearly 2 years after beginning the project, an exciting opportunity reared its head which would allow me to continue Of Skin & Rock...
