Craig Easton was commissioned by NHS Glasgow to create a body of artwork for the Beatson Radiology Unit, with the aim of inspiring and calming patients undergoing cancer care. Recognizing the power of visual art to provide comfort and distraction during times of anxiety, he sought to design an installation that would allow patients and visitors to feel a sense of escape and connection to the wider world outside the hospital environment.
His proposal, titled A Journey through the Isles, became a carefully curated series of breathtaking landscapes that transport viewers across the length and breadth of Scotland’s islands.From the Inner Hebrides right round to the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, via the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland.
Craig drew upon many years of exploring, photographing, and studying the Scottish landscape. He combined images from his extensive archive with newly commissioned works, ensuring that the series felt both comprehensive and personally resonant. The result is not simply a collection of photographs, but a narrative journey through a country that, while often remembered for its unpredictable weather, reveals a profound beauty and serenity to those willing to pause and look closely.
For patients and their families, these works offer more than aesthetic pleasure: they provide a moment of reflection, a reminder of nature’s vastness and resilience, and an opportunity to mentally step away from the clinical setting. Craig’s landscapes act as windows to other places, spaces of calm, strength, and continuity, bringing the outside world into the heart of the hospital. His ability to capture the atmosphere of these remote environments, from shifting skies to glimmering waters, makes the series both soothing and inspiring.
In A Journey through the Isles, Easton has created more than art; he has crafted an experience. It is a gift of perspective and solace, reflecting not only his enduring fascination with Scotland’s islands but also his commitment to using photography in ways that touch lives and bring comfort in moments of vulnerability.