Colonnade of Basaltic Pillars, Staffa

This is a general view of the geological formations found on the Isle of Staffa. The basaltic columns as shown in the photograph formed both Fingal’s Cave and the Clamshell Cave, both of which Wilson photographed. Tourists would regularly travel to the small island to view the strange formations. In many cases the only way to see the caves was from a steamboat such as those operated by the Macbrayne company. Wilson’s appreciation of light and tone betrays his artistic training when he describes how the basalt columns would

catch a variety of direct and reflected tints, mixed with unexpected shadows, that produce a picturesque effect which no regularity could have given

George Washington Wilson, Photographs of English and Scottish Scenery