Writing & Books by Margaret Soraya

Writing to soothe and uplift

“For anyone who has ever stood by the sea and felt something shift”

Margaret Soraya is a Scottish artist, writer and photographer based on the Isle of Harris in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. Her books combine painting, photography and reflective writing inspired by sea, landscape, solitude and the restorative power of creativity.

Rooted in themes of slow living, emotional well-being, and connection to place, her work explores how nature and creativity can help us reconnect with ourselves and the world around us.

New book – shaped by the sea

Shaped by the Sea poetry book by Margaret Soraya, dark teal cover with sea painting and signature, Isle of Harris

Inspired by years spent beside the coast and now living on the Isle of Harris, Shaped by the Sea is a collection of reflective writing, poetry and paintings exploring solitude, grief, creativity, motherhood and the healing power of the sea.

Through gentle observations of island life and memory, the book invites readers to slow down, reconnect with themselves and find beauty in quiet moments.

Available now in various bundles: the book, The sea collection – The book plus five art postcards. The Full Collection… The book, one art print, 5 postcards and a bookmark. Collectors edition – The book paired with a fine art print — made to be framed or kept. Gift Edition – The book, one art print, 5 postcards and a bookmark, in a gift-wrapped box

Buy the book

The sea collection

Collectors edition

Buy The full Collection

Poetry and painting book about the Hebridean sea

New art and photography gallery in the Bays of Harris owner Margaret and Skye the whippet

For anyone who has ever stood by the sea and felt something shift

Inside spread of Shaped by the Sea showing the poem Spindrift alongside a watercolour seascape painting

Open spread of Shaped by the Sea showing the poem The Beach Remains alongside a soft teal watercolour painting

WITHIN HEBRIDEAN SEAS

Exploring the Hebridean coastline from within the sea.

I have a special connection with the coastline of the Outer Hebrides and have been photographing its wild and beautiful seas for the past 12 years; known best for my evocative and atmospheric images of the coast, often captured during some of the wildest weather. Taking my photographic work one step further, a natural progression is immersing myself within the sea.

A photographic book exploring my journey into photography within the water and images from the Coastline of the Outer Hebride

Buy Within Hebridean Seas

Open spread of Within Hebridean Seas showing an underwater photograph of the clear turquoise waters of the Outer Hebrides

Introduction page of Within Hebridean Seas — Exploring the Hebridean coastline from within the sea — Margaret Soraya's personal essay about her connection to the Outer Hebrides

Fantasia, Swansea, photographic exhibition. 11th Feb 1997

The photographs originated as visual realisation of the tranquility and stillness beneath the sea and the breaking through, back to the reality above the seas surface.’

Margaret Zaheer (maiden name) 1997

Inside spread of Within Hebridean Seas showing archive photographs of surfers and early sea photography alongside exhibition materials

Within Hebridean Seas photography book by Margaret Soraya, showing an underwater and above water split photograph of the Isle of Harris coastline

Open spread of Within Hebridean Seas showing split-level underwater photographs of Luskentyre beach in snow, Isle of Harris, Outer Hebrides

quiet

Margaret Soraya at the private view of her Bosham Gallery exhibition, surrounded by large-format framed Hebridean sea photographs<br />

Quiet is a 48-page collection of Margaret Soraya’s atmospheric Scottish seascapes, but it is also something more personal — an exploration of introversion, creative solitude, and the particular kind of strength that comes from being someone who thinks and feels deeply.

With an introduction by Bosham Gallery director Luke Whitaker, where her solo photography exhibition took place. With and an essay by Margaret on her working methods, the book makes a case for slowing down, for the restorative power of wild and quiet places, and for the creative gifts that solitude can offer those who have always felt more at home beside the sea than in a crowd.

Buy Quiet - Margaret Soraya