By looking at examples of Jenny Gilbertson, M.E.M. Donaldson, Margaret Fay Shaw and Nan Shepherd’s film and photography work from 1920s'-1940s', this 20 minute paper assessed if these three women offered a different reading on the landscape of the North from their better known male contemporaries.

Through archival sources, alongside their film, photography and literature outputs, I presented their aims, methods and examples of their work. In order to contextualize their approach to the Scottish Highland & Islands landscape, I referred to examples of work by Werner Kissling and John Grierson.

Jenny Gilbertson (1902-1990) moved to Shetland from Glasgow to live on a croft, producing her first film 'A Crofter's Life in Shetland' (60 mins) in 1931. On showing this to John Grierson (1898-1972), he went on to buy a further five of her films on aspects of Shetland life for the G.P.O. Film Unit. Through the time spent living on Shetland in a crofting community, Gilbertson was able to follow the cycles of seasons in her films, both of nature and related crofting activity including farming and fishing. Her engagement and relationships made with the crofters also established a natural rapport with them in front of camera.

Author and photographer Mary Ethel Muir Donaldson (1876-1958) wrote guides, for which her photographs often illustrated, including ‘Wandering in the Western Highlands and Islands‘(1921) and ‘Further Wanderings-Mainly in Argyll’ (1926). Her photography also had a focus on Ardnamurchan, in particular at Sanna, where Donaldson built her house in 1927, complete with photography studio, and lived there until 1947. Donaldson’s landscapes are not composed as passive views to be looked at; they are to be journeyed into. The walk or journey was an integral part of her process.

Margaret Fay Shaw (1903-2004), an American, lived from 1929-35 on a croft on South Uist, with sisters Màiri (1883-1972) and Peigi MacRae (1874-1969), documenting their lives and those of their neighbours, in the community of North Glendale. A trained musician, her primary motivation was to transcribe Gaelic songs at their source. Photography and filming became another means of recording the everyday details. Shaw's life work 'Folksongs and Folklore of South Uist' (1955) brings all aspects together in an immersive portrait.

By presenting the voices and work of Gilbertson, Donaldson, Shaw and Shepherd, this paper proposed an alternative view of the North.