'A Season in Shadows'

The inside story from Hamish McArthur and Sam Pratt, on their new photobook documenting the 2022-2023 World Cup climbing season...

Photo Credit: Aspect Ratio Team

Last night, Olympic climber Hamish McArthur and photographer Sam Pratt, launched their new photo book, ‘A Season in Shadows’. Held in the Young Space in Islington, lots of fellow friends, climbers and photographers got together in celebration of their project, funded and hosted by Arcteryx UK. Published by Classic Paris, the book features 12 months worth of images, taken by Sam, and personal journal entries, written by Hamish, about his experience competing in the 2022-2023 World Cup climbing season. Sam described during the panel,

‘It was going to be this heroic thing, but the pressure was mounting and it quite quickly became this story instead, something that ended up being much more meaningful’.

The book shifted from being a tale of triumph to a much more personal documentation of the pressures of elite performance and the mental health implications competitions have on athletes. 

Hamish began climbing as early as 5 years old, and when he turned 11 years old he became the youngest member of the GB junior climbing squad. At last night's panel he described this experience, ‘Between the ages of 10 and 16 is when you really build your personality, so having this narrative of climbing is the thing that I'm good at and it's the thing that I do, that was really great for building confidence, but it's not a stable place to build an identity’. Since then Hamish’s career has snowballed making him a two time junior world champion in the sport. 

The book is almost like a protest to the culture of competitive climbing, it feels, Hamish gives the readers an insight into the emotional turmoil and personal battles that go on behind the scenes. He said, ‘All I want out of this project is for people to sit down and have some quiet moments of thought and reflection. The story of it isn't what matters, it's just an example of someone being okay with their inner thoughts and taking them sincerely without hiding them’, which is something you never get from watching competitive sport in any vein. Sam then spoke about photographing elite athletes at competitions,

‘I’ve photographed the world cups for quite a few years and you are just following what's happening, there's thirty of you in a small pen all photographing the same thing from the same angle, there's not much room for storytelling’.

Just looking at the hundreds of photos dotted around the exhibition space it's clear to see the book was waiting to spill out of them. From the action shots at the comps to the intimate moments of journaling, the project is a far cry from the testosterone fuelled walls of the comp walls.

‘I’m easily categorised as just an athlete or climber and this is an opportunity for that to be broken down and for people to see that I can actually be vulnerable’,

Hamish explained. The pair have succeeded in showing everyday people the unfiltered reality behind elite performance in a way we haven't seen before. 

In terms of creating the book, this was something new to both Sam and Hamish. Sam said, ‘There was a long period of time where Hamish put all his faith in me, he’d filled the journals and just left them with me, he struggled to read them when I picked out a few pages that were still quite raw. I probably spent 6 months reading and looking through every page in his journal, trying to curate the book.’ The authenticity of the book makes it so evident how critical Sam and Hamish’s working friendship has been. Sam explained all about how he learned to almost read Hamish, to know when it was and wasn't appropriate to photograph a moment, whilst the same goes for Hamish and understanding how important it was to let Sam into his world. Hamish confessed,

‘I really can't credit him enough for this. The trust side of things has been quite wild, I didn't know I had it in me to be this trusting’. 

‘A Season in Shadows’ is more than just a story about competitive climbing but it's about showing that even the most talented, high-achieving athletes are still human, and there’s nothing wrong with that. As Hamish says, ‘If I can share something vulnerable that is also potentially helpful for others then I feel that's my obligation’. Sam agrees, ‘The main thing with mental health is just learning to be okay with not being okay’, and that message is undoubtedly more powerful than another self-righteous success story. Aptly, all proceeds from the book sales are going to a UK-based mental health charity so head to Sam or Hamish’s pages to purchase a copy.

Quotes courtesy of Hamish Mc Arthur and Sam Pratt at the panel talk of their book launch 04/09/25.