Field Journal

Therapy in the Blue Hour
A Film by John Duncan & Mike Guest.

At the start of the pandemic, photographer Mike Guest began a project to swim out to photograph and film the blue hour from the water at dawn every morning as part of a mental health healing journey. The Ripple Effect is new film that captures his thoughts on healing and his relationship with the water.

At the start of the pandemic, Mike Guest found himself in an unusual setting: home. After 20 years of working as a freelance photographer in outdoor environments all over the world, he had been accustomed to constantly being on the move, surrounded by athletes, clients, collaborators – and distractions.

It was during this period of personal darkness, and following a conversation with his friend and fellow surfer/photographer Nick Pumphrey, that Dawn Days was born. Every morning, Mike was up at 3.30am, pulling on his wetsuit and walking down to the beach with his camera, where he would swim out and capture the dawn.

‘I had never felt such a sense of darkness,’ Mike recalls. ‘All of my past just started coming at me. And these emotions would just hit me. They were four or five of the darkest weeks of my life. The experience of going out at dawn, simply being in the water, put me back in touch with myself.’

The Ripple Effect is a beautifully open and honest reflection from Mike on how this project helped him process his mental health over the pandemic. The film features footage and audio captured by Mike and his network of creatives over the past year, blending Mike’s candid words with clips of water, nature, birdsong, and a soundtrack mixed by Mike’s friend David Jack.

‘Although this can come across as quite a serious film,’ Mike explains, ‘we had so much fun making it. We laughed and cried – all the emotions were there. The most memorable part of all of this was when we would sit down with a cup of tea and talk. A bunch of like-minded souls with no agenda apart from enjoying nature and telling stories.’

The organic collaboration that developed simply as a result of Mike sharing his mental health journey through social media is exactly what he hopes to come out of the film, and he continues to receive messages from collaborators, therapists, teachers, and individuals all interested in either contributing to his project, or using it as inspiration for their own journey.

‘There is a wonderful lady in Portobello who goes out and swims,’ Mike says. ‘She works with children from difficult backgrounds, and those with learning difficulties. She asked if she could use the films and I more than gladly agreed. As the kids can’t be at school, they’ve been sending the film out in newsletters to give them a sense of calm and solace from nature. On top of that, I know a wonderful writer and poet called Marjorie who works with women’s group all over Scotland. I’ve been putting out the images and videos to these women, and they’ve been writing poetry. If anyone is out there and working on something similar, and you would like to use some imagery or some of the films, please do get in touch. This isn’t some sort of commercial venture; this is what I want to give back to people if it helps them.’

Mike is also really excited about a book project, which will hopefully encompass a large number of the people getting involved with Dawn Days. Images and words will be sculpted by a great friend of Mike’s, Barry Duncan over in Canada, and a small team are working through everyone who got involved on Instagram. The team hopes to find a narrative for the book that will allow people to flick through the pages and immerse themselves in some watery goodness.

‘Immerse yourself in something that you love. And talk to someone. You’ll be amazed at the effect it can have. Decide to talk. That’s the first step.’ – Mike Guest

Mike is quick to add that Dawn Days was not a standalone channel for his own mental health, but rather a ‘piece of the puzzle’ that included therapy, yoga, and reaching out in his relationships. To him, there is no silver bullet, but he believes strongly in the restorative power of water for himself personally, and hopes that viewers will find something that brings them a similar form of calmness.