In 2017 Quayle visited the Isle of Man, the birthplace of his grandfather’s family. During Quayle’s first visit to the Isle of Man he learnt that this special island felt special, it was rich in family history, he felt connected to this place, and he knew straight away that he had to explore the island, its people, and its culture through his viewfinder.
Throughout each frame of this monograph Quayle utilises his passion for analogue documentary photography to explore the various and multifaceted ‘surfaces’ of the Isle of Man. Vast landscapes of the Island have been captured using complex photographic techniques to enable Quayle to record as much detail as possible, to capture an essence of the Island and to put the viewer of each image within the proximity of the Island.
To sing a song shall please my countrymen;
To unlock the treasures of the Island heart;
With loving feet to trace each hill and glen,
And find the ore that is not for the mart
Of commerce: this is all I ask.
No task,
But joy, GOD wot!
Wherewith " the stranger " intermeddles not—
Who, if perchance
He lend his ear,
As caught by mere romance
Of nature, traversing
On viewless wing
All parallels of sect
And race and dialect,
Then shall he be to me most dear.
Natheless, for mine own people do I sing,
And use the old familiar speech:
Happy if I shall reach
Their inmost consciousness.
One thing
They will confess
I never did them wrong,
And so accept the singer and the song.
