Jack Lowe has just arrived in Oban in his converted ambulance, his antique camera equipment loaded in the back ready for a fortnight of photography on the west coast of Scotland.

The NHS ambulance, decommissioned in 2003, is his toolkit, his transportation and his mobile darkroom, allowing the 40-year-old to create his striking images come wind, rain or snow.

But the only real issue Jack can think of on his latest trip to capture all 237 RNLI stations using only Victorian photography equipment, is the Scottish midge population.

"I had to come to Scotland before the high season so the midges don't get into the chemicals," Jack explains.

The photographer began The Lifeboat Station Project in January last year, setting out to capture the history and importance of the RNLI using a method of photography popular between 1850 and 1880 known as wet plate collodion.

The images are created on delicate pieces of glass and then developed in a tray of chemicals immediately afterwards as the lifeboat men and women he photographs watch on.

Jack says his love of the RNLI began as a "childhood fascination" after his father took him to see where lifeboats were made on the Isle of Wight as a young boy.

"From my childhood point of view, the cool boats, getting on to the seas, getting the kit on and saving people's lives - I love it," he says.

Born in Aberdeen and spending the first few years of his life growing up on a boat, Jack's nautical fascination was matched only by his love of photography, a Kodak Instamatic camera given to him by his grandmother at the age of eight beginning a lifelong love of analogue.

When he grew up, he chose cameras over choppy waves, spending 15 years in the printmaking industry running his own business.

But he grew restless, determined to inject new passion into his photographic career while satisfying the adventurer inside of him. And so he decided to return to the sea.

Above: Oban RNLI's lifeboat crew, shot by Jack on April 15.

"It's a childhood fascination that I can turn into something meaningful," he explains of the project.

While working closely with the RNLI, who are supporting him in bringing each station on board, the project is Jack's full-time job.

Identifying groups of stations across the country, he travels for around a fortnight at a time before returning home to Newcastle to be with his family for two to three weeks, funding his journey by selling prints of his images on his website.

It's a long and laborious process, with one year under his belt and around 50 stations already committed to film, Jack estimates will take him five years in total complete the entire project.

The coast of the UK and Ireland is completely outlined in clusters of dots representing the hundreds of stations on his mission map, with Jack regularly updating each one on his website as either planned, in process or completed.

Travelling with such delicate materials for the Victorian medium of photography is a process in itself. There are glass plates that need careful transportation and enough chemicals for developing in his portable darkroom, meaning he can only visit so many stations in one trip.

It would of course be easier to shoot digitally, he notes, but taking the time to get to know the men and women who volunteer at each station makes the project all the more meaningful as he sets up his equipment to take those all important shots.

There are three in total - the view of the waters protected by the RNLI from each station, a portrait of each coxswain or senior helm then a group portrait of the crew.

Above: David McHaffie, Tobermory RNLI's coxswain, shot by Jack on April 17.

He explains: "The lifeboaters see it developing in front of their eyes suddenly. The whole collaboration process unleashes this sense of participation and emotion.

"People this week have been in tears, for some it's the first photograph of themselves that they like. But they can also see a lot of time and commitment [from me] - I'm there 24 hours."

Eventually more than 1000 original glass plates, a work of art in themselves called an ambrotype, will form the basis for an exhibition of the Lifeboat Station Project that Jack hopes to arrange geographically around a large gallery.

While he thinks Victorian photography is unlikely to enjoy a resurgence due to his project - "it's too cumbersome," he laughs - Jack does believe that the magic of analogue photography is rubbing off on both his subjects and those following his journey online.

Above: Jack is photographing behind the scenes shots using a Lomography camera.

"[The lifeboaters] think it's magical and feel like a part of history. It reminds people to handle actual things again.

"There is a bit of a resurgence of analogue with the Instax cameras now, we actually have an instant Lomo camera for behind the scenes. I hope it's something people with tap into."

For now, Jack's first Scottish adventure with the RNLI is coming to a close. He plans to return north of the border in June to photograph stations in Orkney and Shetland, hoping to avoid those dreaded midges during the warmer months.

While the project is far from being completed, Jack laughs as he hints his childhood fascination with the life-saving service may be his next career move, going beyond the lens and into the lifeboats full-time.

"I might join [the RNLI after the project ends]. To be honest I'm not quite sure how it will happen.

"I've had invites from across the coast to join but my wife isn't too keen on moving to the coast."