Jon Tonks

10×10″ Signed Pigment Print (Edition of 25)

This image was made in 2017 on Easdale Island, a slate island of the Inner Hebrides in the Firth of Lorn. 

Once the centre of the British slate mining industry, the deep quarries of this small island were filled with water during a huge storm in 1850 – some as deep as 300ft. A 500 strong population dwindled to around 4 people by the 1960s, but it has now rebuilt to around 50 inhabitants. 

I was originally sent to photograph the island for Avaunt Magazine, I also returned more recently to document the World Skimming Championships that now take place each year – people can be seen collecting stones suitable for skimming all over the island.