“I rested until 10.30 pm, then went outside to walk around and take some infrared shots on the deserted platform levels. It was a dry but windy night and my only companions were the noises of the platform machines as I walked up onto the deserted heli-deck. Looking around from this vantage point I could make out the neon lights of the sister platforms belonging to Occidental, Tartan and Claymore. The lights on the deck illuminated the words Piper A and looking out into the blackness I could see the delicate flickering lights of the safety vessel on the pitch-black sea. I angled my camera down into the deep dark pit which was the sea, the noise of the waves lashing against the well conductors. It was like a strange timeless dream with the acid lights shining onto the metal against the forces of the sea; no one would hear my cries if I fell overboard.”

Diary extract: Oilwork North Sea Diaries publication, Piper Alpha platform 31st July – 3rd August 1987

“ As an art student in Aberdeen, the oil capital of Europe, I was affected by its presence in the lack of cheap accommodation and the presence of leather jackets and overpowering aftershave in bars and nightclubs; guys walking down Union Street with cowboy boots usually two sizes too big for them. It never occurred to me that later in life I would spend over thirty years doing intense work on this industry.”

Diary extract: Oilwork North Sea Diaries publication