007, 2025
Glencoe, Scotland

The entrance to the Glencoe pass in Scotland offers a volcanic amphitheatre in all weather conditions, but at the denouement of a snow storm there is a haunting menace to Buachaille Etive Mor, the cone shaped monolith that rises vertically to the west of the A82. This is a place where many bad things have happened over the years and the rawness of the topography gives a symbolic nod to that. Glencoe is not a place of lavender fields and sun kissed meadows; it is a primeval geological aberration of granite rock.

The pass is one of the most arresting visuals in the UK and I have filmed up here many times over the years. Of course, I am far from alone and the celebrated film director - Sam Mendes - chose Glencoe as a key location for Skyfall in 2012. I am sure his decision was influenced by the fact that the Fleming family has, for four generations, lived in the region and Ian Fleming himself spent many a day in the shooting lodge just 45 miles down the road to Glen Etive. This is most emphatically Bond country.

From the single-track West Highland Way running parallel to the main road, we were able to offer a sense of journey to Bond’s DB5 and the other props came to mind quite naturally. At first light, the red telephone box certainly popped against such a formidable backdrop and we had made sure the lighting inside the box was functional. That made all the difference and we are again reminded that it’s often the small things.

The strongest photographs have an emphatic sense of place and conveying this was acutely necessary to do justice to both the destination and the Bond parody. We did get lucky with the weather and also, I want to thank the Fleming family and the Alba police force for their help with this project. It was not a bad few days to spend in pursuit of my craft.