Mountain rescue volunteer wins £10,000 for Rest and Be Thankful landslide picture

A mountain rescue volunteer has won £10,000 for an infamous image of a landslide at the Rest and Be Thankful.

Mick McGraw, from Helensburgh, won the Lapeca Scottish Landscape Awards 2025 for the piece, titled ‘Glen Croe landslide, August 31, 2020’.

The winning photograph was taken from the slopes of Ben Donich five years ago, as around 6,000 tonnes of debris moved across the hill above the A83 and Old Military Road at multiple locations.

Car-sized boulders rolled onto the carriageway after 100mm of rain hit the Argyll hills.

Mick, a member of the Arrochar Mountain Rescue Team, is also a programme leader for the Master of Letters in Fine Art Practice programme at Glasgow School of Art.

Mick is a member of the Arrochar Mountain Rescue Team. scottishartstrust via Supplied

In addition to receiving a first-prize award of £10,000, Mick will receive a specially commissioned sculpture by Lorna Fraser, winner of the Scottish Landscape Sculpture Award 2023.

“Landscape for me is layered with history, politics and human intervention,” he said.

“Glen Croe is not just a scenic view but a place where engineering solutions and natural forces collide, shaping how we navigate the familiar terrain.

“Winning this award encourages me to keep exploring these fragile intersections and to document how our attempts to control the landscape become part of its evolving story.”

The judging panel for the awards included influential art-world figures David Mach RA HRSA, Lennox Dunbar RSA, Annie Cattrell RSA, Jessica Harrison RSA, and Rachel Maclean RSA.

The winning piece is one of 107 artworks selected from over 2,100 entries currently on display at Kirkcudbright Galleries.

Baldvin Ringsted, from Glasgow, was the recipient of the second place prize and £5,000 donated by the Robert Haldane Smith Foundation, for his meticulously stitched collage titled ‘Deluge’.

Baldvin Ringsted finished in second place for 'Deluge'. — Baldvin Ringsted finished in second place for ‘Deluge’. scottishartstrust via Supplied

He said: “My practice relies on craftsmanship and a skilled level of fabrication. I have always been interested in found objects and how our communal memory ‘embeds’ meaning into everyday objects and images.

“I believe my work has a lot in common with classic landscape painting, how it evokes memories and a sense of familiarity, even though the landscape is from an unknown place.”

Martin Rek, from Edinburgh, collected third prize for his work titled ‘Stillness, Glencoe’ and took home a £1,000 donation by the McLean family.

The Scottish Landscape Awards exhibition is free to visit and opens at Kirkcudbright Galleries from July 5 and runs until September 28, 2025.

Chair of Dumfries and Galloway council’s communities committee, Tracey Little said: “The Scottish Landscape Awards 2025 celebrates the powerful connection between place and creativity – honouring artists who capture the spirit of extraordinary landscapes.

“We are delighted that the partnership between Dumfries & Galloway Council and The Scottish Arts Trust has brought this significant exhibition to our region.”