Secret Life of the Cairngorms book scoops top public nature photography accolade
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A book detailing The Secret Life of the Cairngorms has been chosen by the public as the Favourite Scottish Nature Photography Book 2020.
It's the work of professional photographer Andy Howard, who has enjoyed an intimate relationship with the area since childhood, exploring its most hidden places and developing a close understanding of its wildlife.
Andy's debut book, The Secret Life of the Mountain Hare won the same accolade in 2018.
The biennial vote is run by the Scottish Nature Photography Awards, which celebrate nature, wildlife and landscape photography in Scotland.
The eleven books shortlisted for the 2020 Award highlighted different aspects of Scottish nature and landscape with visual storytelling through stunning photography.
"I’ve cherished every moment I’ve spent in the Cairngorms photographing the rich and diverse range of wildlife, from the spectacular spectacle of an osprey grabbing a trout from a lochan to spending time on the high plateau with a dozing Dotterel, each and every one encounter is magical and will stay with me forever." – Andy Howard
Awards organiser Niall Irvine said: “In the last year, books have taken us out of the limitations of lockdown and given us a view of nature we might not otherwise have seen. Now is a great time to celebrate that and this shortlist did just that.”
Andy Howard said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to have won this award and humbled to have won for the second time, especially considering the high standard of books on the shortlist. I’d like to thank everyone who voted.
“I’m privileged to do what I do for a living, to spend time in the company of wildlife, to photograph and then write about these encounters is a joy.
“My job is simple, to record and share the beauty of the wildlife found in Scotland. I’ve cherished every moment I’ve spent in the Cairngorms photographing the rich and diverse range of wildlife, from the spectacular spectacle of an osprey grabbing a trout from a lochan to spending time on the high plateau with a dozing Dotterel, each and every one encounter is magical and will stay with me forever.”
Robert Davidson, publisher and managing director at Sandstone Press said: “At Sandstone Press we are enormously proud of being the publishers of Andy Howard’s beautiful Secret Lives series. It is quite tremendous that the first two books in what will be a trilogy have been recognised by this prestigious award.
“We are most grateful to Andy’s readers for taking the time to vote for The Secret Life of the Cairngorms. Andy brilliantly visualises Scotland’s wildlife and landscapes, recontextualising them for a world in which wild things grow ever more rare and precious.”
The second and third place runners-up in the vote were Naturally Orkney - Coastline by Raymond Besant (published by The Orcadian) and Scottish Island Bagging: The Walkhighlands guide to the islands of Scotland by Helen Webster & Paul Webster (published by Vertebrate Publishing).
