‘Grace has just jumped off the swing and her hair is all over the place but she doesn’t care. It’s a moment that encapsulates everything freeing about living on the island’

Wherever I am, I always take particular interest in the way people relate to each other and their surroundings. Last spring, having just returned from Ukraine, I wanted to start a personal project a little closer to home and explore the lives of people who had done something different and come up against challenges. I looked at a few options before remembering Hugh, who employed me as a graphic designer when I was just starting out, before I got into photography.

Many years after I’d moved on, Hugh moved with his dog to the isle of Jura in the Inner Hebrides, where he’d spent holidays as a kid in a tiny stone cottage rented by his family. Back then, the cottage had just been a summer retreat – there was no power and they’d boil up water on the little stove. Hugh bought the place and stayed there while he did it up. He’s been living there ever since.