Mouth of the Clam Shell Cave, Staffa

Photograph of two men in a small rowing boat at the side of a geological formation made of basaltic columns on the Isle of Staffa, Scotland.

Wilson and his friend George Walker who accompanied him to Staffa, were rowed to the island by Sandy Macdonald where Wilson spent a day taking photographs. According to Walker, Wilson took 24 exposures of which 'twenty-three were perfect.' The Island of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides features many natural curiosities including Fingal's Cave that is formed of hexagonal basalt columns. As well as the main feature in the middle ground, this photograph includes detail in the right of the foreground and on the left of the background which added depth in this stereoscopic image. This photograph is a later carbon copy which is a process that is less susceptible to light damage, unlike the original albumen photograph which was prone to fading over time.