WERNER KISSLING & THE CROFTERS OF ERIKSAY / Mike Russell

Werner Kissling was an ethnographer and photographer who studied the Scottish crofters of Eriskay and South Uist, the farmers and fisherfolk of Dumfries and Galloway, the Māori of New Zealand, and the culture of North Yorkshire. Kissling is known for the short film Eriskay: A Poem of Remote Lives, which is based on his footage, shot in 1934, of crofting life on the island of Eriskay in the Western Isles.

Kissling was born into an aristocratic, land-owning family but spent his multimillion-pound inheritance and died in a Dumfries care home. In his twenties, as a young German diplomat, he was rich, had social status and apparently had an assured career; he chose to pursue his interests in ethnography and photography.

Michael Russell is a Scottish politician serving as Chairman of the Scottish Land Commission since 2024. He is the author of seven books including A Different Country on the life and photography of Kissling.