Daisies and whisky, a summer view from Lagavulin

by Thijs Schouten

On the island of Islay, where the air always smells slightly of sea and peat, the Lagavulin distillery stands like an icon in the landscape. In this edit, I turned my own photograph into a painting full of tranquillity and detail. The daisies in the foreground bloom profusely in the summer light, their white petals catching the sunlight and providing a playful contrast to the straight lines and white facades of the distillery behind them. The image exudes simplicity but is full of layers: the flowers, the architecture, the water and the sky, everything flows together.

What appeals to me as a photographer is how this place exudes both strength and softness. For me, the daisies symbolise the transience of the moment, while the distillery symbolises tradition and time. By converting the picture to a painterly style, with soft colours and a subtle brush texture, I wanted to enhance that feeling. For me, the combination of natural elements and human craftsmanship captured in this peaceful landscape makes this one of the most successful images in the series.

It is an ode to Scotland, to light, to silence and attention. And to whisky, of course.