Jura: The remote Scottish island in photographs from those who know it most

A contemporary snapshot of life in the Inner Hebrides isle has been created.

Frame by frame, life on the Scottish island of Jura in 2024 has been captured.

A series of photographs from the island has emerged after Document Scotland, a leading photo collective, travelled to the Jura to work with islanders to document the place they call home – and their place within it.

Childhood freedom and family connections were among the themes captured, as well as wildlife and work, which often overlap given Jura is home to 200 people – and a deer population of around 5,000. Jura as a place of deep natural beauty was also the source from where many of the images came.

Young islander Rosie on land close to her home, symbolising the link between her childhood on the island and her family's enduring connection to this place across generations. PIC: Margaret Mitchell, 2024

One man’s struggle with illness and the restorative act of walking on the island featured in one piece of work, while another man’s preparation for the Isle of Jura fell run was the focus of another.

Meanwhile, four professional photographers from the collective – Sophie Gerrard, Colin McPherson, Margaret Mitchell and Craig Easton – created their own photo stories about contemporary life on Jura. One features a portrait of Rowan, a young ghillie at Ardlussa, while the free running members of the after-school running club on Corran Sands feature in another.

All images were brought together in a show for the the community at Craighouse, the island’s main settlement.

A portrait of Rowan, a gillie working at Ardlussa on the north end of Jura. PIC: Sophie Gerrard, 2024

Mr McPherson said there had been an “outstanding” reception to the project, with the photographs now held in the Document Scotland archive. The ‘Show Us Jura’ project followed a similar piece of work carried out in Colonsay in 2022.

Mr McPherson said: “It was very much like Colonsay, the local community on Jura just really embraced the idea of why we were there. We had over 20 adult participants in the project and every pupil at the Small Isles Primary School got involved as well. That was really fantastic.

“The Document Scotland photographers also did a series of portraits and just really documented island life – that is a very big part of it for us.

Photograph shows: A portrait of Willie Mack on the Isle of Jura, presented as a diptych alongside his handwritten testimony about his recovery from illness through the act of daily walking on 'The long Road'. PIC: Craig Easton, 2024

"We were only there for a very short time, but we got a real good sense of the island and that was down to the fact that everyone we met and engaged with was really positive about the project.

"Although there are just over 200 people on the island, it seems a very industrious place. There is a lot going on between the whisky distillery. There is gin, there is rum, there is farming. There is tourism, but you don't have that overburdened sense of it. Jura feels like a very industrious, self contained place.

"Each Scottish island has got its own unique characteristics and that at Document Scotland is something that we are interested in – what sets each island apart. The size and scale of Jura is incredible. We were staying right up in the north end at Ardlussa and it was a 45-minute commute to Craighouse.

"That was my first visit to Jura and I know the other islands around about it very well. You have this magnificent scenery and that cliche in the back of your mind about deer and hills and majestic seascapes, but also there is a population there which really just has all that as a backdrop to their everyday lives. Their lives – as lives are everywhere in Scotland – are busy and focused on work, community, school, life work balance.”

A portrait of Matthew in a favourite place close to where he lives on the Isle of Jura. PIC: Margaret Mitchell.

Show us Jura also worked with members of the community less seen due to health and other social issues.

Mary Ferguson was one of the people able to connect with the Show Us Jura project. She has lived on the island for 40 years, but, due to disability, has been unable to leave her house easily for around half of that time.

Mr McPherson said: “Mary has been on the island for over 40 years, although her disability means that for the past 20 years or so, due to her disability, it has been very difficult to integrate into the community but she is definitely part of island life.

"She keeps in touch with everything that is going on through her husband, who is her carer. She just really wanted to show the islanders that she was a member of the community.

"She wanted to contribute her own perspective of her own community. We talked about how that could look in story form and we used a lot of her old family photos from when she first came to the island and then there was a mixture of pictures taken around her home environment.

"She has a lovely view overlooking the bay from her front window, so we looked at that and we spoke about her favourite places around the island where she has liked to visit in the past. I went there and took some photographs from those locations and we integrated them into the story.

Pupils from the Small Isles Primary School taking part in their after school running club at Corran Sands on the island of Jura on Scotland’s west coast. The weekly sessions were organised by teacher Jonathan Pye. The school had 21 pupils split into two classes covering their primary school intake. PIC: Colin McPherson.

“We had the privilege of showing the work at the final presentation and explaining a little of the story behind it. And the islanders were very moved by it and they were very pleased that she had been involved in the project.

"It is about getting the community engaged with photography. You can take a beautiful photograph, but then where does it sit within a bigger wider narrative about the story of Jura and the story of your community? It is really pleasing that we go to these communities and get such a great response.”

Show us Jura, which received funding from Creative Scotland, was supported by the Jura Development Trust, the Glasgow-based Street Level Photoworks and care charities Snowdrop Argyll and Dochas.