Since I started making photographs, a little over 2 years ago, I have always followed my instincts and shot whatever I liked to. Whether that was a nice landscape, a street scene, or a nice building, I did not worry too much about what my message was. And probably I still don’ t, as I honestly have no idea what my real intention is behind this side of the glass. The only thing I know is that I enjoy doing it, and I feel like I am creating something unique, which somehow has my own stamp on it.

Surely, I like the vibe of the street more than anything else, but at the same time I had the opportunity to appreciate the tranquillity of a park too. Despite being constantly inspired by the surroundings, I am yet to have started a photographic project. Or I should say, I was yet to have started a photographic project as of August 2021.

As a Londoner based amateur photographer who generally focuses on the urban life, I have recently started to appreciate the remoteness and tranquility some places can provide. This quickly reflected into my very first post-pandemic holiday too: Orkney and Shetland.

My girlfriend and I carefully organised a trip to visit the Northern Isles of Scotland a couple months prior to departure. With all booked and organised, we also left a little to the destiny. Surely not the photographic gear though! I carefully packed the following: Hasselblad 503CXi + 80mm Carl Zeiss Planar CF T*, Minolta Digital Spotmeter F, Peak Design Travel Tripod, Cable release and lots of 120 Kodak Portra 400.

The first leg of the trip was spent in Orkney, and amongst the many beautiful islands that comprise this beautiful archipelago, Westray is certainly one of the smallest. Fun fact: it is also home of the world's shortest flight to Papa Westray, a journey that lasts 90 seconds.

Minutes after disembarking from the ferry from Lerwick, we stumbled upon a scarecrow like I have never seen before. So carefully dressed up and shockingly seemingly human, I could not help but pulling over the car and photograph this work of art. And one other one, just round the corner, 20 meters ahead. Again, I could not help it, I had to make another photo. On the way to the Airbnb room, we stumbled upon another three, all different between each other but so very well-finished. I basically spent the rest of the day and the following one making sure I would not miss any of them, and carefully looking around like if it was a treasure hunt. Yes, I became a little obsessed too, I must admit.

Little did I know the scarecrows had been created by families across the island with the aim to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. Powered primarily by kind donations, their search and rescue service has been saving lives for nearly 200 years.

It quickly became my very first photographic project: a collection of the sixteen haystack scarecrows I crossed my path with while traveling all over the island of Westray.

This is to say that, sometimes, ideas for a photographic project come up out of nowhere. You do not necessarily have to have an idea on your mind ahead of time, and this is probably why I was so invested: it all started by chance, and this is, for me, the beauty of it.

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Film photographer Tommaso Carrara is based in London. See more of his work on his website, and connect with him on Instagram. Also, be sure to check out his new zine on this project!