Can you help Ivan find couple in his photo?

Amateur photographer Ivan Skinner took this striking photo during 13 weeks self-isolating. Now he would like to offer it to the couple that wandered into his shot.

Ivan Skinner from Ballynure took the photograph on May 12 in Castlerock.

Since taking early retirement from his job as a primary school principal, he has spent a lot of time on amateur photography, posting his work online.

“I have a serious heart condition and when the pandemic started my wife and I decided I would go and self-isolate at the family caravan in Castlerock,” he said.

Ballynure man Ivan Skinner spent 13 weeks self isolating, which he got through by focusing on photography during his daily walk.

“That was mid-March and we expected it to be all over by Easter. So for 13 weeks it was just me, the dog and the camera and the caravan.

”Thankfully the site owner let us stay even though it was not the caravan season yet. There were about five other people isolating there too for similar reasons. It was very strange.

”So it was a bit of motivation for me to go out every day for a good long walk, take photos and then put them on Facebook.

”And then I discovered that after a while there were a lot of people around the world waiting online to see them each day, many of them ex-pats.”

(He calls his Facebook site Tin Man Photography, inspired by a friend who cited the Wizard of Oz character to him as he dropped him at hospital for a heart appointment; that was the character, of course, who lamented that he didn’t have a heart).

The photograph of the couple was taken at the Barmouth at Castlerock.

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“It’s where the River Bann enters the sea. I had been waiting for some decent waves breaking because it can give quite a dramatic picture at the end of the jetty. It is quite a popular spot for photographers.

”And when I took this one shot a young couple just happened to be in the frame with their dog.”

After reflecting on the photograph later, he felt they might appreciate a copy of the snap for their own album.

”It was taken in the afternoon and lockdown was starting to relax a bit so a lot of people were coming to the north coast, so in that sense they could be from anywhere.” But it was taken on a Monday so I suspect they might not live too far away. I posted it on my ‘Tinman’ Facebook page later and just added a comment - if anyone knows who they are to let me know as I would to give them a copy.”

Thanksfully is solitary photographic pilgrimage on the north coast has now come to an end.

“After a while my wife started to come and stay at the weekends but then we just decided that I should just move back home”.

However he is still keen to conclude his sojourn by hopefully making a small photographic memory for the couple who happened into his lense.

• Ivan can be contacted on: [email protected]

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