LAST POST The recent demolition of the old Post Office in Ardhasaig has prompted me to look back at some of the other Post Offices I’ve photographed in Harris and Lewis. Anyone heading up or down the main A859 road just north of Tarbert will be familiar with this classic corrugated tin building. It’s been rusting for decades, taking on the colours of the landscape as it slowly deteriorated. There are still plenty of people on the island who remember […]
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 […]
A tale of two cinematic controversies – with more than four decades between them – are the start and finish points for this short photo tour of Stornoway town centre. Some religious and film references scattered throughout. Saturday evening, February 17th, 2018. Shortly after sunset. Stornoway’s Playhouse opened in 1934. Popular myth has it that the cinema went out of business in the mid 1970s, shortly after a Free Presbyterian minister put a curse on the theatre manager, following his […]
Ken has worked in the fish farming industry for over 30 years. He manages the salmon farm based at Loch Langavat, which is on the road between Leverburgh and Finsbay, Isle of Harris. He also oversees operations at Loch Huamavat – a couple of miles up the road from their Langavat base – which is where I took the photo above. I’ve driven past Ken and his workmates literally hundreds of times over the past 15 years. I’ve seen all […]
Transocean Winner In August 2016 a decommissioned oil rig was being towed from Stavanger, Norway to ‘Blowtorch Beach’ in Turkey. Things didn’t go to plan… Timeline 6.15pm Sunday Aug 7th. First call to coastguard. Alert from the tug MV Alp Forward which is having trouble maintaining headway in the wind and experiencing heavy weather west of Lewis while towing Transocean Winner rig. Coastguards go into response mode, monitor progress of tug and tow. 10.30pm Sunday. Situation deteriorates. Incident upgraded to […]
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 […]
PHOTO PROFESSIONAL – MAGAZINE FEATURE The latest issue of Photo Professional has a six page article showcasing a selection of photographs I’ve taken over the past four years, along with an interview discussing influences, technique and some of the equipment I use. Terry Hope, editor of the magazine also asks about the Leaving Home exhibition and the role crowd funding website Kickstarter played in financing the project. Also available in pdf (0.5MB) Photo Professional Issue 88, is on sale […]
EARTH MOVER Following my last moonlight outing in February, I realised I’ve been accumulating a collection of digger pics over the past few years. Not sure why… it must be a ‘man’ thing 😉 The first of the bunch dates back to March 2010. It was my first attempt at a star trail shot and by a very convoluted route has a tenuous royal connection: My comments that accompanied the resulting image (as posted on Flickr at the time): […]
LA’AL BOTHY Small but perfectly formed, La’al Bothy, on the Isle of Harris will be available to rent as self-catering holiday accommodation in time for the summer months. The compact residence has been designed and built by Alan and Ellen McDougall, next to their house in Scarista, on the west coast of Harris. The building was originally intended to serve duty as a garage and storage space. Plans changed and it’s now nearing the end of its transformation into a […]
JIMMY BULLAR’S TEA HUT This strange contraption is living out the remainder of its days in the middle of a peat bog on the Isle of Lewis. I stumbled across it (almost literally), in February 2011 during a full moon night photography trek to the shielings of Cuishader. When bad weather cut my outing short, depriving me of a decent shot of this weird vehicle, I knew I’d have to return to complete unfinished business. In the meantime I dug […]