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Loch Ness Lifeboat volunteers photographed Victorian style

Lifeboats News Release

The Lifeboat Station Project ticks off station 103 at Loch Ness - only another 135 to go!

RNLI/Neil Hillyard

Jack Lowe with his camera at Loch Ness Lifeboat Station
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It is to his credit that lifelong RNLI supporter and photographer Jack Lowe has remained so deeply committed to his Lifeboat Station Project given the scale of his undertaking and all the challenges which he has to overcome. His mission is to create a unique photographic archive of each of the 238 RNLI lifeboat stations and crews in the UK and Ireland using Victorian photographic techniques. The resulting glass plate image is known as an 'Ambrotype' which he develops on site in his mobile darkroom, a decommissioned ambulance called Neena.

The Loch Ness volunteers were proud to become part of this amazing undertaking and to have the privilege of witnessing the developing process as the image appears, as if by magic, on the glass plate in Jacks mobile darkroom.

Jack Lowe started photographing for his project in January 2015 and hopes to have it complete by 2020. Loch Ness Lifeboat Station was number 103 on his tour of 238 stations to visit. The Lifeboat Station Project is 'About the lifeboat volunteers, for the Lifeboat volunteers' and Jack has certainly engaged with the RNLI crews wherever he has visited. He now continues to the North East and is looking forward to reaching his half-way mark later this summer.

The Project is the first time anyone has tried to create a complete photographic record of every single lifeboat crew, so it will have enormous historic significance. The photographs will ultimately be showcased in a stunning exhibition and book, both of which stand to be huge fundraisers for the RNLI.

For more information, or to find out how to support Jack, visit https://thelifeboatstationproject.com


RNLI/Leanne Greatrex

Looking at Loch Ness crew Ambrotype in the darkroom
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RNLI/Leanne Greatrex

Jack Lowe ticks off Loch Ness - 103 done, 135 to go!
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Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.

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Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.

About the author

Maeve Ryan
Lifeboat Press Officer, Loch Ness Lifeboat Station

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