The Wild In Me: Dave Cuthbertson

Some projects have a deep personal resonance to them, and that was certainly the case with the second of our series of films for the John Muir Trusts' Wild in Me campaign. It featured mountain photographer and Scottish climbing legend Dave Cuthbertson revisiting his life-long haunt of Glen Nevis and then taking his camera up to the Carn Mor Dearg Arête overlooking the North Face of Ben Nevis to try and capture the last rays of sunlight. Before Dave discovered photography Glen Nevis was one of his main stomping grounds as a climber and is home to a multitude of his pioneering first ascents such as Femme Fatale, one of the first ever E8s. Dave or Cubby as most people know him was a strong influence on my own career as a photographer. His combination of commitment – getting away from the easily accessible viewpoints and using his mountaineering skills to search out new angles on a subject, coupled with his professionalism and attention to quality, were two aspects of his craft that have inspired my own work. It was this attention to detail and passion for the landscape of the Highlands that we tried to capture in the film. Together of course with the dedication that enables Dave, despite multiple surgeries on his hips, to push himself all day up technical terrain in search of fresh images of the places so close to his heart.