Words, thoughts, and an invitation from Neale James, presenter/producer of The Photowalk Podcast. Pictures from Neale James and Lynn Fraser.

“Friday’s Photowalk podcast is a community of thoughtful, creative people who share stories, ideas and experiences, finding connection through pictures, letters and conversation. We celebrate through our photography and words, curiosity, observation and the simple act of paying attention to the world around us.

I’m delighted to announce our first week-long retreat for photographers who want to write, writers who want to photograph, and anyone who would like to explore creative writing in some of Scotland’s most beautiful and inspiring landscapes, enjoying mentorship from published writers.

Step away from everyday life and spend time exploring the relationship between landscape, memory and the written word in the company of like-minded creative people.

Based out of Scotland's beautiful Black Isle, the week draws inspiration from the Highlands. Ancient forests and graveyards, Pictish stones, ruined buildings, and sweeping coastlines serve as prompts for reflection rather than simply places to visit, encouraging writing that grows from genuine observation and experience.

Throughout the week, creative writing prompts will help our guests explore the connections among place, memory, photography, and storytelling. Inspired by landscapes, local history and personal observation, these exercises are designed for writers and non-writers alike, encouraging curiosity, reflection and new ways of seeing.

We’ll be joined by three published authors/writers during the week.

Our approach is practical, empathic and down-to-earth. We'll mentor you through the process of finding your voice, shaping your ideas and building confidence, whether you're writing for the first time or looking to develop an established or more regular practice, whether that be for books, magazines, blog features or better journaling.

This is a safe space to experiment, ask questions, take risks and discover what happens when photography and writing sit side by side.”

ARRIVAL SUNDAY AUGUST 29th

We invite photowalkers to arrive in the afternoon from 2pm to unpack and get ready for the week ahead. We’ll take an afternoon’s walk together to get to know each other, after which we’ll enjoy a welcome evening meal as we look ahead to a creative week.

AUGUST 30th, DAY 1: FOREST WRITING WITH A GUEST AUTHOR

Monday morning takes us into the heart of the ancient Caledonian pine forest with a guest author. This is not a writing workshop in the traditional sense, nor is it a woodland walk with a destination in mind. Instead, we'll slow down and pay attention to the sights, smells, sounds and feel of the forest.

Drawing on principles of forest bathing, our guest author will guide us through the woods, encouraging us to notice what is actually present around us. The play of light through the pine canopy, the texture of bark beneath our fingers, the movement of air through the trees and the sounds that emerge when we stop hurrying through a landscape.

Along the way, we'll pause for short writing exercises, responding to the place as we experience it. No previous writing experience is needed. The focus is not on producing polished work, but on observation, curiosity and discovering how a landscape and our feelings can shape the stories we tell.

You’ll leave with notes, fragments and ideas that become the starting point for something much larger.

After the morning session, we'll gather for lunch beside the water at Loch Insh, with time to reflect, write, chat and enjoy the surroundings before the afternoon's activities begin.

In the afternoon we'll travel to Loch an Eilein, one of the most atmospheric locations in the Cairngorms. Encircled by ancient Scots pines, the loch is home to the ruins of a small island castle that seems to float just beyond reach, its weathered stone walls reflected in the dark water below.

For your photography, the soft afternoon light filtering through the forest often creates beautiful conditions for both intimate woodland studies and wider landscape images. For our writing, this remarkable setting offers an opportunity to continue the morning's work, developing earlier ideas and technique.

We'll spend time walking the shoreline, observing. The castle itself remains inaccessible from the path, which somehow adds to its fascination. It sits in silence at the centre of the loch, inviting many questions, making Loch an Eilein a place where photography and writing naturally meet.

Loch An Eilein. Pics: Tim G

AUGUST 31st, DAY 2: STORIES FROM THE PAST AND ARCHIVE

Our morning begins at the Highland Archive Centre in Inverness with a guest author, exploring how real documents (and photographs) can unlock entirely new worlds of imagination and creativity.

Letters, lists, records and fragments of everyday life often contain far more than the facts they were created to record. A name in a ledger, a date on a page or a brief note written decades ago can become the starting point for a story. During this session, we discover how history, place and curiosity can work together to spark creativity.

No previous writing experience is required. The archive itself provides the inspiration, offering a fascinating glimpse into lives, communities and moments that might otherwise have been forgotten.

After the morning session, we'll head, according to weather, to one of several locations where we can photograph and write from micro-challenges presented during the morning session.

SEPTEMBER 1st, DAY 3: SIDESTREETS, OIL RIGS, AND THE PIRATE’S GRAVEYARD

Today, we take a short drive from our base into the heart of Cromarty, a town where history, storytelling and everyday life sit comfortably alongside one another. Building on the archive discoveries of the previous day, we'll spend time exploring how real places can inspire both photography and writing.

Our morning begins at the famous Pirates' Graveyard, where weathered headstones stand beneath the trees overlooking the Cromarty Firth. Despite its name, the graveyard has little to do with pirates. Instead, it is known for the remarkable carvings found on many of its stones: skulls and crossbones, winged souls, hourglasses and symbols that speak of life, death and remembrance. Over time, these carvings inspired stories and misunderstandings of their own, making the graveyard a fascinating place to consider how narratives emerge and evolve. We’ll write from the yard, looking out across the bay as the crows accompany our thoughts!

You’ll be invited to select a gravestone or a corner of this place and imagine the life behind it, using the details that remain, as the starting point for creative work. Photographs and writing will work side by side, each medium responding to the same place in different ways.

After lunch in Cromarty, we'll continue our exploration with a visit to Hugh Miller's Cottage. One of Scotland's most celebrated writers and self-taught geologists, he remains a powerful reminder that creativity and curiosity are often more important than formal credentials. His home provides a fitting setting for an afternoon of reflection and writing, with prompts designed to encourage participants to draw upon their own experiences, discoveries and personal stories.

In the evening, we'll gather back at the farm to share selected photographs and pieces of writing from the day. This is not a critique session, but an opportunity to listen, celebrate different perspectives and discover how the same places can inspire many different responses.

SEPTEMBER 2ND, DAY 4: STONES, STORIES AND MEMORY

Day four explores one of the most fascinating aspects of the Highlands: the way history, landscape and storytelling become intertwined across centuries.

Our morning begins in Rosemarkie, home to some of Scotland's most remarkable Pictish heritage. Guided by a guest author, we'll explore how places can hold memory long after the people who shaped them have disappeared. Through carved stones, ancient symbols and stories passed down through generations, we'll consider how landscapes preserve traces of the past and how writers can draw inspiration from what remains, as well as from what has been lost.

The session will include a series of creative prompts designed to encourage participants to look beyond the surface of a place. What stories are hidden within a carved symbol? What knowledge survives without being written down? How does a landscape remember?

After lunch in Rosemarkie or neighbouring Fortrose, we'll continue our exploration with visits to Fortrose Cathedral and Chanonry Point. The cathedral ruins offer a striking reminder of the area's medieval past, while Chanonry Point occupies one of the most dramatic locations on the Black Isle, where the Moray Firth narrows, and the land reaches out towards the sea.

This is a place rich in folklore and local legend, associated with stories of prophecy, mystery and the unseen. Standing between land and water, history and myth, it provides a fitting setting for an afternoon of photography, reflection and writing. Guests will be encouraged to respond creatively to the places we visit, drawing connections between landscape, memory and imagination.

SEPTEMBER 3rd, DAY 5: ENDINGS, HORIZONS AND A CEILIDH OF STORIES

Today is a free-writing day. Our final day begins at Rosehaugh Estate, a place where absence becomes part of the landscape itself. Once home to a grand mansion, little now remains beyond gateways, fragments of walls, a walled garden and traces of what once stood here. Yet in many ways, what is missing is what makes the place so compelling.

For writers, the estate offers an opportunity to explore memory, loss and imagination through a series of creative prompts. What does a place remember after its buildings have gone? How do we describe something that is no longer there? What stories remain in the spaces left behind? For photographers, Rosehaugh presents a different challenge: finding beauty, mystery and meaning in the traces that time leaves behind.

After lunch, we'll travel to the wide-open coastline at Roseisle Beach and nearby Findhorn. The expansive shoreline provides a striking contrast to the enclosed landscapes and historical sites explored earlier in the week. Here, attention turns towards possibility, openness and the future. Through photography, writing and simple observation, we'll spend time responding to the sea, the horizon and the changing light of the Moray coast.

As the retreat draws to a close, we'll return to the farm for an evening ceilidh in its original sense: a gathering for storytelling, conversation and shared experience. Guests will be invited to read a favourite passage from their work during the week and share photographs that have become meaningful to them. Together we'll reflect on the journeys, discoveries and friendships that have emerged over the course of the retreat, celebrating the connection between words, pictures and place.

The week ends not with an ending, but with a collection of stories, photographs and ideas to carry home, along with encouragement to continue writing, photographing and paying attention long after the Highlands are behind us.

DEPARTURES SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 4th

YOUR RETREAT GUIDES

NEALE JAMES

Neale James is a photographer, broadcaster/podcaster and writer whose work centres on storytelling, observation and human connection. After a career in radio and television that included presenting for BBC local radio and Radio 1, he moved into photography full-time in 2004, building a reputation as a social photographer.

In 2020, Neale launched The Photowalk Podcast, a programme exploring the relationship between photography, creativity and everyday life. Through weekly walks, essays, interviews and reflections, he has spent years using words and photographs together to tell stories about people, places and the experiences that shape us.

Alongside The Photowalk, Neale wrote and produced Halfway to Maybe, a personal series exploring the twists, turns and uncertainties of an unconventional life.

His approach to writing mirrors his photography: observational, personal and rooted in curiosity. Whether crafting podcast essays, recording conversations or reflecting on journeys made with a camera, he believes that both writing and photography begin with the simple act of observation.

LYNN FRASER

Lynn Fraser is a photographer and writer based in the Scottish Highlands. Through both words and photographs, she explores themes of place, memory and human connection, paying particular attention to the small details and everyday moments that are often overlooked.

Her camera and notebook have taken her through India, Mongolia, Ethiopia, South Sudan and beyond, where she documents daily life with a human curiosity. Rather than simply recording what she sees, Lynn uses writing and photography together to create a richer sense of place, combining observation, reflection and storytelling.

She publishes My Journey with a Camera on Substack, where photographs sit alongside essays, travel writing and personal reflections.

Lynn's photographs have appeared in international exhibitions with the Atlas of Humanity project in Paris, Milan and London. In 2025, she was named Amateur Photographer of the Year 2024 by Amateur Photographer magazine.

information about this retreat

Our base for this retreat is The Barn at Black Isle Berries, Tore, near Inverness, Scotland IV6 7SB. We’ll be staying on a working soft fruit farm with access to its own shop selling home-grown and local produce.

The cost per place is £2,150. This includes a private bedroom, all workshops, transport to all activities, plus continental breakfast and evening meals. The deposit is £300.

Bring the camera/kit you regularly enjoy using, a portable camping chair for use in the wilds and whatever pens or pencils you enjoy writing with. A laptop or similar editing kit is useful for our evening discussions about work.

We’ll be spending time outside and in, plus we’ll be travelling to some remote areas where the wind can be brisker. It being Scotland, it’s best to still bring scarves, a thick jacket, sturdy photowalking shoes or boots. Bring rainproof options too, as we’re not allowing rain to stop play.

The accommodation is wheelchair-friendly, with one ground-floor bedroom (with a wet room). All facilities are on one floor level. Transportation would require some planning and negotiation.