Stewart boat builders in North Uist, in the Western Isles of Scotland - 1974/2004.

The output comprises seven photographs of the Stewart boatbuilders in North Uist, which form the final sequence of a body of ethnographic photographs taken in the Hebrides since 1974. The photographs are located within a continuum of documentary image making, dating back to 1930s American social realism, yet are entirely distinctive. This is partly the breadth of references they draw on, which embrace fine art and filmic composition (disciplines within which the photographer originally trained). This work forms part of a trajectory in which the photographer has recorded lives ‘on the edge’ and lives in transition – geographically and/or culturally.

By living among the communities and amid the landscape, he records over a period of time, Wiley’s monochrome images possess an intimacy: his ‘subjects’ are entirely unselfconscious in front of his camera. He explores the notion of the photograph ‘as ritual’, and his processes are rigorous, respectful and, above all, have integrity. The results are monochrome images which are simultaneously tender, dignified, raw and sensitive: they contain an eloquent narrative which does not require words.

At the presentation of his Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in 2005, Wylie was credited as, "probably the finest living photographer of the region". The works have been published (2005),exhibited at The Lantern Gallery in Stornaway (September 2006) during the Celtic Festival and commendably reviewed.

Evidence
The Western Isles of Scotland 1974-2004: Photographs by Gus Wylie. Introduction by Finlay Macleod and a statement by Gus Wylie. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2005. 157pp