Duncan Scobie’s photographs explore the unusual in the ordinary.
Growing up in west Cornwall, Duncan’s parents always encouraged him to appreciate local history and art. Trips to galleries were regular and there was always art equipment lying around for him to use. As a child, he could be found on the roof of the house taking photographs after ‘borrowing’ his dad’s camera. His love of the Cornish coastline meant the first camera he bought, from labouring work as a teenager, was a waterproof Minolta 110. Painting was also a passion, which taught Duncan to always take a deeper look at light, shade and texture.
He trained and qualified as an Osteopath straight from school, but over the last ten years has immersed himself more heavily in photography, qualifying as a pro-drone operator. Duncan loves trying to master new techniques, and in the last year has been using his drone to ‘light paint’, creating stimulating, abstract images. He is also drawn to the northern aspects of our globe undertaking photographic trips to Iceland, Norway and Finland, capturing their icy beauty on camera. Duncan is never found far from the water; surfing, snorkelling swimming, body surfing, cliff jumping – any excuse to be in the ocean. The Cornish landscape and sea have hewn him into what he has become, and for that he is grateful. While respecting the natural environement, he is also a risk taker: “so many decisions are just a simple switch in the head that needs to be flicked.”
