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22 Dec 2019
Trash and Vaudeville, New York

Nostalgia Trip: American Graffiti, 1979

American Graffiti Before heading further afield in the USA, I’ll sign off from New York with the story of how I inadvertently photographed an early example of Jean-Michel Basquiat‘s artwork. Trash & Vaudeville During our time in New York in September 1979, several people recommended a trip to Trash and Vaudeville – New York’s ‘go-to’ rock and roll boutique. Walking down St. Mark’s Place, I spotted the famous neon Trash sign in a basement shop window on the other side […]

11 Dec 2019
Magic Phonebox

A Phone Call from the Outer Hebrides

Outer Hebrides’ K6 telephone boxes, in all their magical and modified glory. One of my first ever night photography subjects was the classic red telephone box above. It stands beside a former Post Office, overlooking Loch Finsbay on the east coast of the Isle of Harris. I later discovered many of the local residents referred to it as the ‘magic phone box’. In the mid 1990s, the phone next to Finsbay Post Office developed a fault. It didn’t prevent you […]

26 Dec 2018

When Santa Met Billy

May 2018: I was contacted by the TV production company 7 Wonder. They were about to start work on a two-part documentary series for BBC 2, following Billy Connolly as he travels around Scotland and has various encounters with folk along the way. The makers were keen to include some Hebridean content, so in addition to pieces they’d lined up on Harris Tweed, Lews Castle and the Rocket Post, they were interested in featuring some of my photography. I met […]

23 Jul 2018
The Butty Buss

The Butty Bus

Introducing Chris – proprietor of the Butty Bus – a fast food establishment parked at Leverburgh Pier. Chris modestly describes it as ‘a greasy spoon on wheels’ and ‘the only cafe on the island with four Michelin tyres’. Chris comes from a long line of Harris folk. His family connections with the place go back generations. Born in Inverness, he moved to Harris for a brief period when he was 16, leaving shortly after to spend a decade working at […]

18 Apr 2018
Stevie, the mobile librarian

The Mobile Librarian

Stevie has worked for the mobile library service for twelve years. I caught up with him on one of his regular trips to Harris. The Western Isles Mobile Library Service supplies books to people who are unable to use a branch library because of distance, age or disability.  There are normally three vehicles on the road, visiting communities in Lewis, Harris and the Uists. However, one of the library vans was recently retired, having reached the end of its serviceable […]

21 Nov 2017
Dr Naylor MBE

Dr Naylor MBE [WORK: Outer Hebrides]

Above: Dr Naylor outside South Harris Medical Practice, Leverburgh. In the background, Roneval (the tallest peak in South Harris at 460 metres) and Charlie the horse checking out what’s going on. Dr Naylor moved to the Isle of Harris in 1989. His surgery in Leverburgh is one of the smallest practices in Scotland. He’s one of the UK’s few remaining single-handed general practitioners. In 2016, Dr Naylor was awarded an MBE in recognition of his ‘above and beyond’ commitment to […]

12 Nov 2017
Donald

Crossing the Sound of Harris [WORK: Outer Hebrides]

Another addition to ‘WORK: Outer Hebrides’ – a series of portraits featuring people who live and work in the Outer Hebrides. Donald has worked on the Sound of Harris car ferry since the service was first introduced in 1996. Until then, (almost) the only way to transport a car from Harris to North Uist (and vice-versa) was via the ferry from Tarbert, Harris to Uig on Skye, then take a second ferry from Uig to Lochmaddy in North Uist. On […]

05 Nov 2017
Iain the Bin Man

The Happiest Bin Man in the West(ern Isles)?

Iain was born and brought up on the Isle of Lewis. He left the island when he was fifteen. Forty years later he returned home and took up employment as a ‘driver for the council’. One of his duties is driving the bin wagon, covering the whole of Lewis and Harris. Here’s how he described his job to me: “It’s magical! I’ve got the most scenic bin wagon route in the whole of the UK.” I intercepted Iain and his […]

09 Dec 2015

MOONLIGHTING: buy the book

MOONLIGHTING: BUY THE BOOK Following recent TV appearances, I’ve been asked by a number of people if there’s a photo book of my work. Officially, the answer has been ‘no’. However, I did put together a collection of long exposure night photographs in 2011. The book contains 40 of my favourite night photos taken over a two year period (2009 to 2011). I used Blurb, a self-publishing company, to produce a 25cm x 20cm full colour photo book, primarily to […]

02 Nov 2014
Pardon My French, LM magazine, Elisabeth Blanchet

Pardon My French…

PARDON MY FRENCH Photographer Elisabeth Blanchet called in for a chat and a few photos this summer. The results have just been published  in the latest issue of LM – a magazine distributed throughout Belgium and northern France. Unfortunately my command of the French language doesn’t extend to providing an accurate translation. I scraped an ‘O’ level pass in French a couple of weeks after my sixteenth birthday, just before I joined a punk rock band called Buzzcocks. I tried […]