Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1986 and the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom according to a 2005 Radio Times readers poll, is a truly unique place. I’ve been lucky enough to photograph this location on quite a few occasions over the last two years, through the preparation and delivery of my photographic tours and workshops through Light, Land & Sea.
Beyond the physical uniqueness is the wonderful folklore, one legend has it that the Irish warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. One version of the legend tells that Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. When he did not arrive, the much larger Benandonner crossed the bridge looking for him. To protect Fionn, his wife Oonagh laid a blanket over him so he could pretend that he was actually their baby son. In a variation, Fionn fled after seeing Benandonner’s great bulk, and asked his wife to disguise him as the baby. In both versions, when Benandonner saw the size of the ‘infant’, he assumed the alleged father, Fionn, must be gigantic indeed. Therefore, Benandonner fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he was followed by Fionn (source wiki).
It is however a location that is photographed extensively, which makes it a challenge to a) not get caught up in the photographs you’ve already been exposed too, b) create something that is a little different, and c) remain true to its uniqueness. This image is from my last trip there, in February of this year and I hope that I have managed to achieve a little of all three.
